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While weight-management dieting among young females is widespread, the use of extreme dieting or other disordered eating behaviors is not as common. In the United States, although approximately two-thirds of females use some type of dieting behavior, only about 5 to 7 percent actually participate in behaviors identified as symptoms of an eating disorder.
Posted in Research & News
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Students who struggle with perfectionism tendencies may be at an increased risk for eating disorders, according to a new study.
Posted in Bulimia
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There is a new reason to coach your children on the dangers of peer pressure and the importance of sticking to their own values: a study has identified an association between young women who tend to be conformists and eating disorders.
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The terms "food addiction," "food addict," and "food junkie" have long since been incorporated into the American jargon, but new scientific evidence can now justify their implications in the era of the growing American waistband. A study conducted by the Scripps Research Institute and sponsored by the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) discovered similarities between the brain mechanisms associated to drug addiction in humans with those of compulsive eating habits and the development of obesity. The study is now available in the online version of Nature Neuroscience journal or its May 2010 print publication.
Posted in Anorexia
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College cheerleaders spend a lot of time in the spotlight. Besides the crowds that come to see the game, there are often television broadcasts highlighting the spirited co-eds as they rally the spectators to cheer the team and coaches carefully evaluating the image of the cheerleaders.
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In the 1980s research identified a social clustering of disordered eating among college sororities. The behavior spread through “social contagion,” identifying groups of women who participated in binge eating with their social networks.
Posted in Anorexia
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When we hear or read about anorexia or bulimia we usually picture in our minds a thin, young girl. However, eating disorders among males are not uncommon.
Posted in Eating Disorders
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Orthorexia is an emerging eating disorder that manifests as an obsession with eating only healthy foods. Unlike in anorexia or bulimia, people suffering from orthorexia are not concerned with their weight. However, their food choices often lead to dramatic weight loss, emaciation, and even death.
The problem is that certain foods that contain essential nutrients, such as animal products, are considered by those suffering with orthorexia be unhealthy or impure. However without these essential nutrients, the human body will break down and, eventually, die. Sadly, hard-core orthorexics would rather die than eat food that they consider to be unhealthy. They don’t want to be underweight or die, but their obsessive-compulsive thoughts regarding food quality override their survival instinct.
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What causes eating disorders? The question has been challenging to answer, and in its answer may lie the key to getting better treatment results for anorexia and bulimia. Many researchers believe the causes are complex, a combination of genetic and environmental influences.
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Anorexia is a baffling and complicated eating disorder marked by severe weight loss, distorted body image and a refusal to gain weight – even to the point of life-threatening illness or death. Surprising new research on treatment for anorexia shows that the well-known anti-depressant drug Prozac doesn’t help reduce the chances for relapse, though the drug is routinely prescribed to many patients who have the disorder.
A commonly prescribed treatment, Prozac is given to half of patients with anorexia. Previously, researchers from Columbia University Medical Center’s New York State Psychiatric Institute, led by Dr. B. Timothy Walsh, reported that the drug wasn’t effective during active disease treatment. However, Columbia researchers hoped Prozac could help prevent the disease from returning once a patient has completed active treatment.
Instead, their research showed that one year after completing active treatment, patients had a relapse rate of 50 percent – even when Prozac was prescribed. The study involved 93 women with anorexia, and was conducted together with researchers at the University of Toronto. Half of the women in the study were given Prozac and half received a placebo. Findings toward treatment with Prozac proved disappointing, especially in preventing relapse, leading Walsh to declare the need for a new and more creative approach toward treating anorexia.
Posted in Anorexia
