It sounds so simple: When you are hungry, you eat. When you feel full, you stop. But for the ten million Americans who struggle with eating disorders, it's anything but easy. Take, for example, a young woman who was arrested for stealing from a California grocery story. The suspect had stolen $10 worth of candy bars and other sweets and consumed it all - more than 4,000 calories - in 30 minutes.

"The suspect, Katie, was sobbing, very ashamed, and extremely remorseful. Katie, a student at a local community college, related that she suffered from bulimia nervosa. She had not intended to engage in theft while in the story, but became overwhelmed by anxiety and had an un-ignorable craving to eat... She then was compelled to rid herself of the calories and had induced vomiting in the employee's bathroom."

Though anorexia gets more attention, bulimia is actually more prevalent - affecting one in seven females ages 12-25. The medical consequences of bulimia - a disorder marked by bingeing, then purging, in response to feelings of depression, anxiety or worthlessness - are immense, and anyone who exhibits symptoms of the disorder needs to seek immediate help. Source: Officer.com.

Labels: bulimia, purging, shame

Bulimia nervosa is one of the most common eating disorders. It's characterized by binge-eating followed by purging. Purging can take the form of excessive exercise, the use of laxatives, vomiting or the inappropriate use of other medication.

"The reasons why you binge eat and then purge may not be easy to explain. Part of the problem may be due to a fear of getting fat, but it is often not just as simple as that. All sorts of emotions, feelings, and attitudes may contribute. The physical act of bingeing and purging may be a way of dealing with your emotions in some way."

The risk factors of bulimia are extensive. They include, but are not limited to, severe health issues due to extreme weight loss, tooth decay caused by vomiting, and health issues caused by the misuse of laxatives and other medications.

Labels: bulimia, causes of eating disorders, emotions

A group of psychiatrists from the Institute of Psychiatry in London, U.K. found that teens who suffer from bulimia or unspecified eating disorders respond better to a cognitive-based therapy than family therapy.

"After six months, the researchers found a more significant reduction of bingeing in the guided self-care group than in the family therapy group, but observed no significant group differences after twelve months."

The 85 adolescents were randomly assigned either the cognitive-based self-guided care or the family therapy. Researchers believe the cognitive-based therapy would be used best as part of an early intervention/treatment program. Read more at MentalHelp.net.

Labels: bulimia, therapy, treatment

Doctors Daniel le Grange, PhD and James Lock, MD, PhD have released a book titled "Treating Bulimia in Adolescents" in which they include parents as a vital part of the recovery process. Often, clinical management of adolescent eating disorders includes separating the teen from his or her parents. Parents are often seen as part of the problem.

"We don't see parents as the culprit,' [Le Grange] added. 'We see them as a valuable resource in the treatment of these adolescents. Our goal is to empower parents to feed their kids. Feeding kids is something they do well."

Called "The Maudsley approach", the treatment program includes parental supervision of an adolescent's every meal. Parents ensure that the right kinds of food are eaten, and stay with the child for while after the meal to make sure the child doesn't purge. Read more at PsychCentral.com.

Labels: bulimia, teenagers, treatment

Anorexia and bulimia may get all the publicity, but the most common eating disorder in the United States is binge eating.

Binge eating is uncontrolled eating that occurs at least once a week. Afterwards people usually compensate for their binge by dieting, fasting, using laxatives or "exercising it off."

Researchers at Harvard University Medical School and McLean Psychiatric Hospital interviewed 9,000 people all over the United States about their eating habits and mental health. They found that 3.5% of women and 2% of men are binge eaters. Their disorder tends to last more than eight years. It puts them at a higher risk for obesity and diseases like stroke, heart attack, and diabetes.

All three eating disorders are more common among young people ages 18 to 29, and especially among people who were anxious and depressed.

About 1.5% of men and 0.5% of men suffer from bulimia or vomiting to control one's weight. Anorexia nervosa is an eating disorder that can cause people to diet until they are starving to death. The researchers found that it affects less than l% of American women and only 0.3% of men.

This study appears in the February issue of Biological Psychiatry.

Labels: anorexia, binge eating, bulimia