Eating Disorders Health Article

Eating Disorders

Eating disorders affect both the mind and the body. Although deviant eating patterns have been reported throughout history, eating disorders were first identified as medical conditions by the British physician William Gull in 1873. The incidence of eating disorders increased substantially throughout the twentieth century, and in 1980 the American Psychiatric Association formally classified these conditions as mental illnesses.

Diagnosis

Individuals with eating disorders are obsessed with food, body image, and weight loss. They may have severely limited food choices, employ bizarre eating rituals, excessively drink fluids and chew gum, and avoid eating with others. Depending on the severity and duration of their illness, they may display physical symptoms such as weight loss; amenorrhea; loss of interest in sex; low blood pressure; depressed body temperature; chronic, unexplained vomiting; and the growth of soft, fine hair on the body and face.

There are various types of eating disorders, each with its own physical, psychological, and behavioral manifestations. They are classified into four distinct diagnostic categories by the American Psychiatric Association: anorexia nervosa, bulimia nervosa, binge eating disorder, and eating disorder not otherwise specified.

Anorexia nervosa.

Clinically, anorexia nervosa is diagnosed as intentional weight loss of 15 percent or more of normal body weight. The anorexic displays an inordinate fear of weight gain or becoming fat, even though he or she may be extremely thin. Food intake is strictly limited, often to the point of life-threatening starvation. Sufferers may be unaware of or in denial of their weight loss, and may therefore resist treatment.

Peak ages of onset are between 12 and 13 and at age 17. Among women of menstruating age, menstruation ceases due to weight-related declines in female hormones.

This illness has two subtypes: the restricting type, in which weight loss is achieved solely via reduction in food intake, and the binge eating/purging type, in which anorexic behavior is accompanied by recurrent episodes of binge eating or purging.