Eating Disorders: Definitions, Symptoms and Treatment

Eating disorders plague many young women, men and families around the world. Sometimes the symptoms are obvious, sometimes they are not. Eating disorders should not be ignored. They are symptoms within themselves that may hint of a psychological problem which, if not treated, will remain for life.

Anorexia Nervosa

Characterized by over-dieting and the need for perfection. They appear to want to please all, all the time. They have a distorted self-image. Even at 90 pounds, an anorexic will look in the mirror and see fat. These people are usually over-achievers, always willing to help everyone else except him or herself. They do not realize that there is a problem.

Some of the symptoms include: weight loss, becoming withdrawn, excessive exercising, symptoms of Raynaud's syndrome (hands and feet always cold), tiredness, weakness of the muscles, obsession with food and caloric intake, depression with mood swings, fainting, dizziness, missed periods or amenorrhea (no period). When questioned, the person (usually a child or teenager) will become very defensive and angry; this is a common symptom.

It is noticeable that they will surround life with food, not the consumption of it, but its avoidance. They may prepare a meal for the family and busy themselves with cleaning up while making an excuse to eat later and never actually eating. They noticeably cut food into very small portions or may take predetermined (two to three) bites of any food choice. They become obsessed with food and become defensive if their obsessiveness is brought to their attention. Again, an anorexic does not see that there is a problem. Some may start wearing oversized clothes, hiding the effects of the excessive dieting. The scale becomes their friend, and you will find them weighing themselves daily. Anorexics feel they have failed not only themselves but also others when they don't eat. In striving for perfection, they have lost sight of reality.

With proper counseling and nutritional training, they can recover; but they may relapse, so ongoing treatment is a must. The need for counseling cannot be stressed enough. People suffering with this disease have a high relapse rate. Family counseling is also suggested due to the high stress levels that develop from fear of losing your child, or lack of understanding the disorder.

Bulimia Nervosa

Bulimia is characterized by excessive bingeing and purging. Put in more common terms, it's eating and either vomiting or taking excessive amounts of laxatives to remove what they have just put into their system. The logic behind this behavior, regardless of how it sounds, is to remove the calories before they are absorbed into the system. They have a fear of weight gain; weight gain means failure. Most people who do not understand this condition think that purging is simply vomiting, but this is not true. Bulimics have been known to use things such as enemas, diuretics and laxatives to rid themselves of the over-abundance of calories they feel they have ingested. For some, a simple ice-cream cone is bingeing; others may eat many calories by eating a box of cookies, Twinkies, candy, cakes or any other food source.

Some symptoms of Bulimia are: binge eating, secretive eating, hiding to eat or eating during the night when everyone is sleeping, weight fluctuations, broken blood vessels usually in face or eyes from forced vomiting, bathroom visits after meals, tooth decay caused by the acids of the stomach from vomiting so much, fatigue, weakness, sore throat, irregular heartbeats.

The emotional side effects include: low self-esteem, self-criticism, self-worth determined by how much they have lost or gained, fear of not being able to stop eating, guilt from eating, avoiding functions that involve eating including social outings, substance abuse (laxatives, recreational drugs, diuretics).

The side effects of bulimia can lead to many other health problems including stress on the heart and kidneys, and decreases in potassium and magnesium, which are needed to keep the heart nourished with proper electrolytes. The body becomes weakened and unable to function properly.

Bulimics realize they have a problem, so the treatment is much easier than would be for an anorexic. A relapse after treatment may happen; but with proper counseling and nutritional assessment, it can be cured or controlled. Counseling with families cannot be stressed enough as families tend to blame themselves for this disorder. Once an understanding of the disorder is achieved, a lot of stress is lifted and proper treatment is able to begin.

Compulsive Overeating

A person who eats excessively for comfort characterizes compulsive overeating. They find comfort in food, bringing a short-lived satisfaction. Often during stressful times, they binge and feel that they cannot stop eating. Their self-worth is all based on weight and what they feel society sees as normal.

Symptoms of compulsive eating include: binge eating, starting and stopping most any new fad diet that hits the market, being overweight but never eating a thing in public and eating in the privacy of their own home away from people. Sneaking food becomes a habit, but also very comforting.

Emotional symptoms include: anxiety of not being able to stop eating voluntarily, depression with crying spells, embarrassment about weight, distorted views about themselves, weight and foods are the focus of life. Regardless of the person's size, they are malnourished and need to be treated. They are commonly those that try all the fad diets; and when results are not seen quickly, they slide back into the eating disorder. Constant emotional support is needed for these patients. Once the desired weight is achieved, they will still have a poor body image and think that they are large, when in fact they are not. This could lead the patient back into the vicious cycle of compulsive overeating.

Like bulimics, compulsive overeaters know they have a problem, so they are more easily treated than an anorexic. With proper counseling and nutritional guidance, they can resume a normal lifestyle. Families also need to have counseling on how to deal with such a problem. Understanding the disorder is the first step to recovery for the family.

Overview:

With all eating disorders, there is the constant threat of relapse. In an unhealthy setting, this will be a roller-coaster ride for some families. There is no quick fix and treatment may take anywhere from several weeks to several years. Treating the entire family is as important as treating the patient. Once the family recognizes the signs, they can more quickly get assistance in helping their child or loved one to receive treatment.

Often families do not want to admit that they are suffering from an increased amount of anger over these disorders. The anger is a normal progression when the patient chooses not to help him or herself, thus leaving the family to feel as though they have failed. Anger management counseling for the entire family, and not just a single member, is recommended if you feel overwhelmed. Family members, such as siblings, may even feel embarrassed or ashamed; this too is completely normal. A well-established child and adolescent counseling service in your area will help the siblings understand and cope with their feelings.

High stress or demanding situations are unhealthy for patients suffering with eating disorders. The tendency is to run back to what they feel is the only thing in their lives that they can control, their eating habits.

Herbal Support for Anorexia Nervosa

Anorexia nervosa is an emotional disorder. Although many think of it as an obsession with food and body weight, the eating disorder is really an outward sign of emotional turmoil—and addressing these emotional needs is at the heart of any treatment plan. Medical attention is also required, as this disorder takes a large physical toll, and, without proper medical care, can even be fatal. The following herbal therapies can provide some support for the emotional and physical needs of a person coping with anorexia. Be sure to seek physician guidance before starting herbal therapy.

Condurango (Marsdenia condurango): Helps to stimulate appetite and aids digestion.

Fenugreek (Trigonella foenum-graecum): Helps to stimulate appetite and aids digestion.

Goldenseal (Hydrastis canadensis): Aids digestion.

Lemon balm (Melissa officinalis): Helps to stimulate the appetite, soothes digestive spasms, and works as a mild sedative. Lemon balm may also help regulate thyroid-stimulating hormones and help the thyroid to function normally.

Licorice (Glycyrrhiza glabra): Helps to soothe digestive spasms and heals a damaged digestive track. Also reduces mild depression. Note: Licorice should not be taken by people who have high blood pressure.

Oat straw (Avena sativa): Helps to restore the nervous system to normal functioning and soothes the digestive track. Also helps to reduce depression. This herb may take a while to start working but its effects are long lasting.

Saw Palmetto (Serenoa repens, S. serrulatta, S. serullatum): Helps to restore and maintain the digestive track's normal functioning.

Siberian ginseng (Eleuthrocuccus senticosus): Helps to improve overall body strength and endurance.

St. John's wort (Hypericum perforatum): Helps to restore the nervous system to healthy functioning. Also helps to reduce anxiety and mild to moderate depression. Note: St. John's wort should not be taken at the same time as conventional antidepressant medications.

Valerian (Valeriana officinalis): Helps to stimulate appetite, soothes digestive spasms, and works as a mild sedative.

Wild yam (Dioscorea villosa): Soothes digestive spasms and helps to reduce depression.

Herbs may be used as dried extracts (capsules, powders, teas) or tinctures (alcohol extracts). Unless otherwise indicated, teas should be made with 1 teaspoon herb per cup of hot water. Steep covered 5 to 10 minutes for leaf or flowers, and 10 to 20 minutes for roots. Drink 2 to 4 cups per day. Tinctures are preparations made from alcohol (or water and alcohol), containing an herb strength of 1 part herb to 5 parts solvent or 1 part herb to 10 parts solvent.

References

Blumental M, senior ed. The Complete German Commission E Monographs: Therapeutic Guide to Herbal Medicines. Austin, Tex: The American Botanical Council and Boston, Mass: Integrative Medicine Communications; 1998.

Blumenthal M, senior ed. Herbal Medicine: Expanded Commission E Monographs. Newton, Mass.: Integrative Medicine Communications; 2000.

Integrative Medicine Access: Professional Reference to Conditions, Herbs & Supplements. Newton, Mass: Integrative Medicine Communications; 2000.

Eating Disorders: Anorexia Nervosa

Anorexia nervosa is an eating disorder affected by complex mixture of social, physical and psychological problems.


The four major characteristics are:

• An intense drive for thinness.
  
• An intense fear of gaining weight or becoming fat.
  
• A disturbance in body image.
  
• In women- a cessation of the menstrual cycle (amenorrhea) for at least three months.
  
• In men- a decreased sexual drive.
  

Some important facts about Anorexia nervosa:

• There are two types of anorexia nervosa: restrictive and binge eating/purging.
  
• It typically develops in early to mid-adolescents.
  
• It affects about 1 in 2400 adolescents.
  
• 90-95 percent of individuals with anorexia nervosa are female.
  
• It is usually preceded by dieting behavior.
  
• Psychological problems are displaced onto food.
  
• Unusual food behaviors are practiced.
  
• Need to vicariously enjoy food by cooking it, serving it or being around it is common.
  
• Preoccupation with body weight and image.
  
• Dieting becomes increasingly important.
  
• Denial of the condition can be extreme.
  
• Body image disturbance (misperception of body size and shape) is common.
  
• Pronounced emotional changes are common.
  
• One-third of anorexics subsequently develop Bulimia Nervosa..
  

Anorexia Nervosa - Warning Signs


Anorexia nervosa is an emotional "weight loss" disorder characterized by physical, social and psychological symptoms. Weight loss is achieved by a variety of obsessive behaviors. Most individuals with this disorder strongly deny it. A feeling of control is gained by severely
restricting the amount of food eaten and the ability to do without food is viewed as success in attempting to cope with life's stresses.



Because early detection is important to successful recovery, it is important to recognize the common warning signs of Anorexia nervosa.

• Significant or extreme weight loss with no known medical illness.
  
• Reduction in food intake.
  
• Ritualistic eating habits such as cutting up meat into extremely small bites or chewing every bite excessively.
  
• Denies hunger.
  
• Critical and intolerant of others.
  
• Exercises excessively.
  
• Chooses low to no fat and low calorie foods.
  
• Says he/she is too fat, even when this is not true.
  
• Practices highly self-controlled behavior.
  
• Hides feelings.
  

Anorexia Nervosa - Medical Consequences



Anorexia nervosa is intentional starvation that deprives the body of protein and prevents the normal metabolism of fat. In an effort to protect itself, the body slows down.

• The heart muscle changes and its beat becomes irregular. The ultimate result can be heart failure that results in death.
  
  
• Menstruation often stops, even before extensive weight loss. This is called amenorrhea.
  
  
• Dehydration, kidney stones and kidney failure may result.
  
  
• A fine body hair, called lanugo, develops on the arms and can even cover the face.
  
  
• Muscles atrophy or waste away, resulting in weakness and lost muscle function.
  
  
• Delayed gastric emptying caused by a lack of energy and slowed body function results in bowel irritation and constipation.
  
  
• Loss of bone calcium leads to osteoporosis.
  

Anorexia a Family Affair

Study shows genetic link also holds true for men

TUESDAY, March 27 -- Women whose sons or brothers have anorexia show a much greater risk of developing the eating disorder themselves, new research says.

Scientists already knew that female siblings of women with anorexia have a heightened risk of the condition. The latest study, which appears in the April issue of the International Journal of Eating Disorders is the first to show it also holds true for males.

Anorexia occurs in between 0.1 percent and 0.6 percent of females. The percentage is lower for males, although the exact number isn't known.

Michael Strober, of the University of California at Los Angeles, and his colleagues studied 29 male anorexics and 747 of their relatives, along with 181 women without eating problems.

While the boy's male relatives weren't at higher risk for the condition, the women in their family were 20 times more likely than normal to have the eating problem, and about three times more likely to have a mild version of the disease. Other eating disorders, such as bulimia, weren't more common in either male or female relations. In all, there was nine-fold increased risk of some form of anorexia among close female relatives of men with the disease.

The results point to a genetic cause.

"The familial pattern would suggest either significant stressful factors that run in families, or heritability of risk," Strober says. "The weight of evidence from other studies of other [psychological] diseases would suggest that genetic factors account for a significant aspect" of risk.

One explanation that seems less likely, says Strober, is that dangerously abnormal eating habits are learned. And while dieting undoubtedly has cultural roots, anorexia doesn't appear to be the result of societal pressures to be thin. These messages, in the form of ads, movies, television and other media, are omnipresent, Strober says. "But only a very small minority [of people] develop anorexia."

Dr. Barton Blinder, an eating disorders expert, says he's "not surprised" by the UCLA findings.

"There's no reason why that shouldn't exist," Blinder says, unless the anorexia gene or genes are located on the X, or uniquely female, chromosome.

Blinder adds he has seen male patients with anorexia whose parents -- both mother and father -- and female siblings also have the disease.

Eating Disorders: Definitions, Symptoms and Treatment

Eating disorders plague many young women, men and families around the world. Sometimes the symptoms are obvious, sometimes they are not. Eating disorders should not be ignored. They are symptoms within themselves that may hint of a psychological problem which, if not treated, will remain for life.

Anorexia Nervosa

Characterized by over-dieting and the need for perfection. They appear to want to please all, all the time. They have a distorted self-image. Even at 90 pounds, an anorexic will look in the mirror and see fat. These people are usually over-achievers, always willing to help everyone else except him or herself. They do not realize that there is a problem.

Some of the symptoms include: weight loss, becoming withdrawn, excessive exercising, symptoms of Raynaud's syndrome (hands and feet always cold), tiredness, weakness of the muscles, obsession with food and caloric intake, depression with mood swings, fainting, dizziness, missed periods or amenorrhea (no period). When questioned, the person (usually a child or teenager) will become very defensive and angry; this is a common symptom.

It is noticeable that they will surround life with food, not the consumption of it, but its avoidance. They may prepare a meal for the family and busy themselves with cleaning up while making an excuse to eat later and never actually eating. They noticeably cut food into very small portions or may take predetermined (two to three) bites of any food choice. They become obsessed with food and become defensive if their obsessiveness is brought to their attention. Again, an anorexic does not see that there is a problem. Some may start wearing oversized clothes, hiding the effects of the excessive dieting. The scale becomes their friend, and you will find them weighing themselves daily. Anorexics feel they have failed not only themselves but also others when they don't eat. In striving for perfection, they have lost sight of reality.

With proper counseling and nutritional training, they can recover; but they may relapse, so ongoing treatment is a must. The need for counseling cannot be stressed enough. People suffering with this disease have a high relapse rate. Family counseling is also suggested due to the high stress levels that develop from fear of losing your child, or lack of understanding the disorder.

Bulimia Nervosa

Bulimia is characterized by excessive bingeing and purging. Put in more common terms, it's eating and either vomiting or taking excessive amounts of laxatives to remove what they have just put into their system. The logic behind this behavior, regardless of how it sounds, is to remove the calories before they are absorbed into the system. They have a fear of weight gain; weight gain means failure. Most people who do not understand this condition think that purging is simply vomiting, but this is not true. Bulimics have been known to use things such as enemas, diuretics and laxatives to rid themselves of the over-abundance of calories they feel they have ingested. For some, a simple ice-cream cone is bingeing; others may eat many calories by eating a box of cookies, Twinkies, candy, cakes or any other food source.

Some symptoms of Bulimia are: binge eating, secretive eating, hiding to eat or eating during the night when everyone is sleeping, weight fluctuations, broken blood vessels usually in face or eyes from forced vomiting, bathroom visits after meals, tooth decay caused by the acids of the stomach from vomiting so much, fatigue, weakness, sore throat, irregular heartbeats.

The emotional side effects include: low self-esteem, self-criticism, self-worth determined by how much they have lost or gained, fear of not being able to stop eating, guilt from eating, avoiding functions that involve eating including social outings, substance abuse (laxatives, recreational drugs, diuretics).

The side effects of bulimia can lead to many other health problems including stress on the heart and kidneys, and decreases in potassium and magnesium, which are needed to keep the heart nourished with proper electrolytes. The body becomes weakened and unable to function properly.

Bulimics realize they have a problem, so the treatment is much easier than would be for an anorexic. A relapse after treatment may happen; but with proper counseling and nutritional assessment, it can be cured or controlled. Counseling with families cannot be stressed enough as families tend to blame themselves for this disorder. Once an understanding of the disorder is achieved, a lot of stress is lifted and proper treatment is able to begin.

Compulsive Overeating

A person who eats excessively for comfort characterizes compulsive overeating. They find comfort in food, bringing a short-lived satisfaction. Often during stressful times, they binge and feel that they cannot stop eating. Their self-worth is all based on weight and what they feel society sees as normal.

Symptoms of compulsive eating include: binge eating, starting and stopping most any new fad diet that hits the market, being overweight but never eating a thing in public and eating in the privacy of their own home away from people. Sneaking food becomes a habit, but also very comforting.

Emotional symptoms include: anxiety of not being able to stop eating voluntarily, depression with crying spells, embarrassment about weight, distorted views about themselves, weight and foods are the focus of life. Regardless of the person's size, they are malnourished and need to be treated. They are commonly those that try all the fad diets; and when results are not seen quickly, they slide back into the eating disorder. Constant emotional support is needed for these patients. Once the desired weight is achieved, they will still have a poor body image and think that they are large, when in fact they are not. This could lead the patient back into the vicious cycle of compulsive overeating.

Like bulimics, compulsive overeaters know they have a problem, so they are more easily treated than an anorexic. With proper counseling and nutritional guidance, they can resume a normal lifestyle. Families also need to have counseling on how to deal with such a problem. Understanding the disorder is the first step to recovery for the family.

Overview:

With all eating disorders, there is the constant threat of relapse. In an unhealthy setting, this will be a roller-coaster ride for some families. There is no quick fix and treatment may take anywhere from several weeks to several years. Treating the entire family is as important as treating the patient. Once the family recognizes the signs, they can more quickly get assistance in helping their child or loved one to receive treatment.

Often families do not want to admit that they are suffering from an increased amount of anger over these disorders. The anger is a normal progression when the patient chooses not to help him or herself, thus leaving the family to feel as though they have failed. Anger management counseling for the entire family, and not just a single member, is recommended if you feel overwhelmed. Family members, such as siblings, may even feel embarrassed or ashamed; this too is completely normal. A well-established child and adolescent counseling service in your area will help the siblings understand and cope with their feelings.

High stress or demanding situations are unhealthy for patients suffering with eating disorders. The tendency is to run back to what they feel is the only thing in their lives that they can control, their eating habits.