Posted on Jun 22nd, 2009 |
While many people think that anorexia and other eating disorders are caused by perfectionist parents and the media’s idealization of wafer-thin models, a Time article reports that researchers at the Maudsley Hospital in London believe the root cause of anorexia is hereditary. In fact, it may even be explained by some of the same genes that are associated with autism.
Researchers at the Eating Disorders Unit at the Maudsley Hospital have long been studying the relationship between autism and anorexia. They may seem entirely different, but the London researchers point out that some of the most important characteristics of the illnesses are similar.
(more…)
Posted in Anorexia
Posted on Jun 15th, 2009 |
Scientific evidence shows that our food intake is governed by both the need to eat for survival and the desire to eat, the latter of which is controlled by the dopamine signaling system in our brains. Dopamine controls motivation, movement, and feelings of pleasure, and it urges us to eat and lets us know that eating makes us feel good. The same thing happens in drug addiction.
(more…)
Posted in Eating Disorder Treatment
Posted on Jun 11th, 2009 |
People with nocturnal sleep-related eating disorder eat while they are asleep; they also often sleepwalk into the kitchen and prepare food without having any recollection of doing so. If this occurs often enough, a person can experience weight gain and increase their risk of developing type 2 diabetes. The condition is a hybrid of a sleeping disorder and an eating disorder.
(more…)
Posted in Eating Disorders
Posted on Jun 6th, 2009 |
Eating disorders – which are serious, potential life-threatening diseases that develop due to poor body confidence, genetics and the desire to maintain control over the weight of a person’s body – afflicts over 10% of the American population, with many of the sufferers female. However, while many women may not develop full-blown eating disorders, new research has indicated that 65% of women struggle with their body image issues, with many women even going so far as to fast or starve themselves in an effort to lose weight. (more…)
Posted in Body Image
Posted on Jun 3rd, 2009 |
Although eating disorders such as anorexia nervosa are usually associated with adolescent girls, the senior population is seeing an increase in cases, especially in elderly women.
According to a recent report from the Remuda Ranch Programs for Eating and Anxiety Disorders, eating disorders in elderly women have increased, and the majority of deaths from anorexia nervosa occur in people over the age of 65.
People with anorexia are up to 10 times more likely to die as a result of their illness, compared with those who don’t have the disorder. The most common complications that lead to death are cardiac arrest and imbalances in electrolytes and fluids. In many cases, health professionals are unaware of the disease’s prevalence among the elderly, sometimes with fatal results.
“Because few health professionals think of screening for eating disorders in the elderly, many elderly eating disorder patients have frequently been missed, with tragic consequences,” said Edward Cumella, Ph.D., executive director at Remuda Ranch. “Anorexia nervosa is a very serious illness in seniors, because many already have compromised health to begin with.”
Anorexia is most common among middle- to upper-class Caucasians, and people who suffer from it believe they are overweight even when they are extremely thin and malnourished. Anorexia is hard to diagnose in the older population, mainly because many elderly people living independently have limited contact with others. Those who live in assisted living situations or nursing homes simply refuse food, giving excuses such as feeling full or too sick to eat.
But researchers warn that these excuses should be challenged to determine whether there is an underlying eating disorder. “Eating disorder origins among the elderly are surprisingly similar to those identified for young women, but with a unique stage-of-life dimension,” Cumella said. “Refusing food is often an attempt to control the one thing the person still feels able to control—their food intake.”
Besides the control issue, refusing food can be a protest aimed at loved ones (perhaps the elderly person is upset about activity restrictions or not being visited enough), or even at attempt at suicide due to despair and depression.
“It’s important to evaluate why elderly people are restricting their food intake,” Cumella said. “As we age, taste buds grow less sensitive and appetite decreases. Certain medications blunt taste and sense of smell, and a variety of illnesses also reduce appetite. So food intake restriction may be due to psychological issues, medical issues or a combination of both.”
Treatment for anorexia involves restoring the patient to a healthy weight, treating the psychological issues that are causing the disorder, and reducing behaviors or thoughts that lead to the eating disorder to prevent relapse. Because of the medical issues that an elderly patient likely has, it’s important that the treatment program provide healthy meals, physical rehabilitation, environmental modifications, and appetite-stimulating medications.
Posted in Anorexia, Articles
No Comments
