What are eating disorders

Eating disorders are complex mental health conditions.

As the name implies, they are related to eating behaviors that negatively affect health, emotions and the development of daily activities. Although bulimia or anorexia are the most common disorders, there are others that you should know about.

What are disorders of eating?

Eating disorders, eating or eating, are different names used to describe serious problems related to eating behavior or the development of unhealthy eating habits.

Although many times they can be confused with a form or lifestyle, they are psychological conditions, which can begin with an obsession with food, weight or body shape.

These disorders can also affect the body’s ability to obtain the nutrients it needs, increasing the risk of heart disease, kidney disease, and even death.

Causes of eating disorders

Currently, the exact cause of eating disorders is unknown, however, as with other mental illnesses, it is believed that they may there are many responsible factors:

• Biological: Changes in brain chemicals that may play a role in eating disorders.

Genetic: having genes that increase the risk of suffering from eating disorders ion.

• Psychological or emotional: low self-esteem, tendencies towards perfectionism, impulsive behaviors or problematic relationships that lead to eating disorders.

Those who suffer from eating disorders may show different symptoms, which will be linked to the type of disorder they present, generally severe restriction of food intake, binge eating or purging behaviors, such as vomiting or excessive exercise .

Most common eating disorders

The most common eating disorders include:

Anorexia Nervosa

Anorexia nervosa develops during adolescence or early adulthood, and tends to affect more women than men. Those with this disorder see themselves as overweight, even if they are dangerously underweight.

Therefore, they seek to maintain constant weight control, avoiding the intake of certain foods or severely restricting calories. Among its main symptoms are:

• Constantly seek thinness.
• Perceived body weight and shape have an important influence on self-esteem.

Deny being very underweight.

• Being considerably underweight compared to people of similar age and height.
• Being intensely afraid of gaining weight.
• Having very restricted eating patterns.
• Having a distorted body image,

Anorexia is classified into two subtypes: the restrictive type and the binge-eating and purging type. In both cases, after eating, they are purged through activities such as excessive exercise, vomiting, and taking laxatives or diuretics.

At long-term, people with anorexia nervosa may experience thinning bones, infertility, brittle hair and nails, heart, brain, or multi-organ failure, and even death.

Binge eating or compulsive eating disorder

Like anorexia nervosa, binge eating or compulsive eating disorder usually begins during adolescence or adulthood early, although it can also develop after these stages.

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People with this disorder often eat unusually large amounts of food in relatively short periods of time, and feel a lack of control during binge eating.

People with binge eating disorder do not restrict calories or resort to any type of purging, such as vomiting or excessive exercise, to compensate for their compulsive eating behavior. Among its main symptoms are:

• Eating large amounts of food quickly, in some cases in secret, and even feeling uncomfortable full, despite not feeling hungry.
• Feeling a lack of control during episodes of binge eating, and later anguish, embarrassment, disgust or guilt.

In the long run, people with binge eating disorder may experience overweight or obesity, which increases the risk of other problems, such as heart disease, stroke, or type 2 diabetes.

Bulimia Nervosa

Bulimia nervosa is another eating disorder that usually develops during adolescence and early adulthood, and tends to be more common in women than men.

As happens in binge eating, people with bulimia nervosa eat large amounts of food in short periods of time, up to ll embarrass painfully However, they then try to purge to compensate for the calories consumed and relieve intestinal discomfort.

Ways of purging include forced vomiting, fasting, laxatives, use of diuretics, enemas, or excessive exercise. Among its main symptoms are:

• Recurrent episodes of binge eating with a feeling of lack of control.
• Recurrent episodes of inappropriate purging behaviors to avoid weight gain.
• Self-esteem influenced by body shape or body weight.
• Fear of gaining weight , even if you have a normal weight.

In the long run, people with bulimia nervosa can suffer from inflammation and sore throat, tooth enamel wear, cavities, acid reflux, irritation of the intestine, severe dehydration and hormonal disorders, and have an increased risk of heart attack or stroke.

Pica

The Pica is an eating disorder characterized by eating things that are not considered food, such as dirt, soap, paper, hair, cloth, wool, or clothing.

E his condition can occur in children, adolescents and adults, although it is more common in infants, pregnant women or people with mental disabilities.

In the long run, people with pica have a higher risk poisoning, infections, intestinal injuries and nutritional deficiencies. Depending on the substances ingested, pica can be fatal.

Avoidant or food intake restriction

Food intake avoidance or restriction disorder is the new name for what was previously known as “ eating disorder of infancy and early childhood. It is characterized by causing eating problems due to a lack of interest or distaste for certain flavors, smells, colors, temperatures or textures.

Although it usually develops during childhood, it can persist until adulthood. adult. In addition, it is equally common among men and women. Among its main symptoms are:

• Avoid or restrict food intake, to the point that not enough nutrients or calories are ingested .
• Dependence on supplements or tube feeding.
• Weight loss or poor development for age and height.

It is important to understand that it goes beyond normal behaviors, such as picky eating in young children or reduced food intake in older adults. It also does not include avoiding or restricting food due to lack of availability or due to religious or cultural practices.

Rumination disorder

The newly recognized rumination disorder describes a condition that causes a person to regurgitate food that they have previously chewed and swallowed , chews it again and then swallows it again or spits it out.

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This disorder can develop during infancy, childhood or adulthood. If not resolved in infants, rumination disorder can lead to weight loss and severe malnutrition that can be fatal.

Adults with this disorder may restrict the amount of food they eat, especially in public, which can lead to severe weight loss.

Other disorders of the eating

In addition to the previously developed eating disorders, there are other types:

• Night eating syndrome: people who tend to overeat, sometimes often after waking up.
• Purging disorder: People who often use purging behaviors, such as vomiting, laxatives, diuretics, or excessive exercise, to control their weight or shape.
• Other specified eating or eating disorder: includes any other condition that has symptoms similar to an eating disorder but does not fit into any of the above categories. For example, orthorexia, people who tend to obsessively focus on healthy eating, to the point of disrupting their daily lives, which can cause severe weight loss, difficulty eating outside the home, or emotional distress.

Diagnosis

Eating disorders They are diagnosed based on signs, symptoms, and eating habits. If your health care professional suspects that a person may have an eating disorder, he or she will likely do tests and order tests to help pinpoint a diagnosis.

Generally, the evaluations and tests requested include:

• Physical examination and laboratory analysis, to rule out other medical causes that explain the feeding problems.
• Psychological evaluation, this includes questions about thoughts, feelings and eating habits.

The mental health professional may also use the diagnostic criteria described in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders DSM-5 published by the American Psychiatric Association.

How disorders are treated

An eating disorder is a difficult condition to control or overcome alone, so professionals emphasize that if you think you have this type of problem or know someone in this situation, seek help.

Warning signs that may indicate the presence of an eating disorder include:

• Skipping meals or making excuses not to eat.
• Eating in secret.
• Adopting diets that are too restrictive or focusing excessively on maintaining a healthy diet.

Repeatedly eating large amounts of sweets or foods with a high fat content, especially between meals.

• Stay away from social activities that include meals.
• Continually worry or complain about being fat or talking about how to lose weight.
• Express depression, anger, shame or guilt regarding eating habits.
• Taking dietary supplements, laxatives or products herbal cough to lose weight.
• Go to the bathroom during meals.
• Excessive exercise.
• Having calluses on the knuckles from being provoked vomiting.

Treatment of an eating disorder generally includes a team approach, involving GPs, mental health professionals and dieticians, all with experience in eating disorders. In turn, it will depend on the specific type of eating disorder that is suffered.

The main strategies to combat this problem include:

• Design a plan to acquire habits healthy eating habits.
• Use psychotherapy, family therapy or cognitive-behavioral therapy to learn to replace little or no eating habits healthy.
• Prescribe medication to control the urge to purge or binge.

In some cases, the treatment recommended by a health professional can be complemented with alternative practices, such as acupuncture, massage therapy or yoga.

In severe cases, the doctor may advise hospitalization.

Cases of eating disorders

It is difficult to estimate the incidence of eating disorders in the world population. However, it is estimated that approximately 7 out of 1.000 women and 1 out of 1.000 men suffer from an eating disorder.

This situation seems to have worsened during the pandemic, since, as indicated by a study published in Journal of Eating Disorders, after collecting information from more than 200 participants with diet, it was found that most of them (83%) showed a worsening of their symptoms.

This situation was attributed, among other things, to problems regulating emotions and the lack of tools to deal with the anguish caused by confinement and physical distancing.

Sources consulted: American Psychiatric Association, US National Library of Medicine ., Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Mayo Clinic, World Health Organization (WHO).