Eating disorders, which are associated with a host of adverse medical morbidities, negative psychological sequelae, and considerable reductions in quality of life, should be diagnosed and treated promptly. However, primary care physicians may find it uniquely challenging to detect eating disorders in their early stages, before obvious physical problems arise and while psychological symptoms are subtle. Although psychological symptoms may dominate the presentation, the physician is an integral member of the treatment team and is in a unique role to diagnose and treat eating disorders. This clinical review surveys the eating disorders literature, identified by searching MEDLINE and PubMed for articles published from January 1, 1983, to September 30, 2009, using the following keywords: anorex...MedWorm Message: Register for MedMatcha, MedWorm's medical advertising network, and receive $5 free advertising.

I will never forget the night my 6′3″ tall, slender brother and his even taller, slender friend bought two tickets for the 7:15 p.m. showing of the movie “Troy,” starring an unusually ripped and rippled Brad Pitt. At 10:30 that same night my phone rang, and I heard my brother say to me, “My friend and I have decided that we need to go to the gym. We think we need to get in shape.” They went out for a night of light cinematic escapism and came back with body esteem issues. Two perfectly healthy, well adjusted, intelligent, funny, fit, and loving human beings had not changed that much in just three hours — at least on the outside. But something on the inside had obviously changed. The American Heart Association reports that as of January 2010, 58 percent of ...

The study compared the prevalence, correlates of functional impairment, and service utilization for eating disorders across Latinos, Asians, and African Americans living in the United States to non-Latino Whites.Pooled data from the NIMH Collaborative Psychiatric Epidemiological Studies (CPES;NIMH, 2007) were used.The prevalence of anorexia nervosa (AN) and binge-eating disorder (BED) were similar across all groups examined, but bulimia nervosa (BN) was more prevalent among Latinos and African Americans than non-Latino Whites. Despite similar prevalence of BED among ethnic groups examined, lifetime prevalence of any binge eating (ABE) was greater among each of the ethnic minority groups in comparison to non-Latino Whites. Lifetime prevalence of mental health service utilization was lower a...

Bulimia nervosa and other eating disorders have been on the increase for the past half century. Self-induced vomiting is often practiced as a method of weight control in these patients, potentially causing acidic damage to the esophagus of the kind observed in cases of gastresophageal reflux disease. To ascertain whether patients suffering from bulimia nervosa had an increased rate of reflux-related symptoms, potentially placing them at risk of developing sequelae such as Barrett's esophagus and esophageal adenocarcinoma, a literature review was performed via searches of databases including PubMed, Medline, OVID and PsycINFO and a recursive search of the literature. The search terms were: bulimia nervosa; reflux; esophageal adenocarcinoma; Barrett's esophagus; eating disorders; oral; denta...

New evidence; conclusion confirmed for: CBT for bulimia nervosa One systematic review updated, no new RCTs added from this systematic review. Categorisation unchanged (Likely to be beneficial). CBT plus exposure/response prevention therapy One systematic review updated, no new evidence found. Categorisation unchanged (Unknown effectiveness). Pure or unguided self-help CBT One systematic review updated, no new RCTs found. Categorisation unchanged (Unknown-effectiveness). Guided self-help CBT One systematic review added. It found one RCT, which did not meet Clinical Evidence inclusion criteria for this review. Categorisation unchanged (Unknown effectiveness). Interpersonal psychotherapy One syst...MedWorm Message: Register for MedMatcha, MedWorm's medical advertising network, and receive $5 free advertising.

Conclusions: BMS patients showed no pH differences from C group. The mucosa of BN and GERD patients was significantly acidic relative with controls; thus this simple technique may serve as a diagnostic tool for identifying gastro-esophageal conditions. (Source: Oral Diseases)

Authors: Lopez-de-Andres A, Carrasco-Garrido P, Hernández-Barrera V, Gil-de-Miguel A, Jiménez-Trujillo I, Jiménez-García R The study describes and analyzes the hospitalizations due to eating disorders (EDs) among children and adolescents during 1998-2007 in Spain. We conducted a retrospective study of national hospitalization data using the Minimum Basic Data Set. Hospitalization rates were calculated for EDs among children and adolescents aged 10-18 years. Length of hospital stay (median), psychiatric comorbidities, medical conditions and mortality rates were analyzed. There were a total of 10,569 EDs admissions during the period of study. The median length of hospital stay was greater in patients with anorexia than in those with bulimia (14 vs. 9 days). The most common ps...

Food presented in a virtual reality environment causes the same emotional responses as real food. Researchers compared the responses of people with anorexia and bulimia, and a control group, to the virtual and real-life snacks, suggesting that virtual food can be used for the evaluation and treatment of eating disorders. (Source: ScienceDaily Headlines)

Food presented in a virtual reality (VR) environment causes the same emotional responses as real food. Scientists writing in BioMed Central's open access journal Annals of General Psychiatry compared the responses of people with anorexia and bulimia, and a control group, to the virtual and real-life snacks, suggesting that virtual food can be used for the assessment and therapy of eating disorders........ (Source: Medicineworld.org: New Article Alert)

This article reviews the evidence supporting CBT in the treatment of eating disorders and provides an account of the “transdiagnostic” theory that underpins the enhanced form of the treatment. It ends with an outline of the treatment's main strategies and procedures. (Source: The Psychiatric Clinics of North America)

Food presented in a virtual reality (VR) environment causes the same emotional responses as real food. Researchers writing in BioMed Central's open access journal Annals of General Psychiatry compared the responses of people with anorexia and bulimia, and a control group, to the virtual and real-life snacks, suggesting that virtual food can be used for the evaluation and treatment of eating disorders... (Source: Health News from Medical News Today)MedWorm Message: Register for MedMatcha, MedWorm's medical advertising network, and receive $5 free advertising.

(BioMed Central) Food presented in a virtual reality environment causes the same emotional responses as real food. Researchers writing in BioMed Central's open-access journal Annals of General Psychiatry compared the responses of people with anorexia and bulimia, and a control group, to the virtual and real-life snacks, suggesting that virtual food can be used for the evaluation and treatment of eating disorders. (Source: EurekAlert! - Social and Behavioral Science)

Conclusions: Even though preliminary, the present data show that VR is more effective than PH in eliciting emotional responses similar to those expected in real life situations. More generally, the present study suggests the potential of VR in a variety of experimental, training and clinical contexts, being its range of possibilities extremely wide and customizable. In particular, in a psychological perspective based on a cognitive behavioral approach, the use of VR enables the provision of specific contexts to help patients to cope with their diseases thanks to an easily controlled stimulation. (Source: Annals of General Psychiatry)

This article came at just the right time. I have been taking care of my severely sick daughter for almost a year now. It is so true about getting away and making time to exercise, meditate, pray, or just sit alone outside in the fresh air. And ASK FOR HELP– people are more than willing to help out and give you a break.” -Kim “I know it is not the point of this story, but I’m literally in tears thinking of how often I send my children out without their helmets on to ride their bikes. I’m pulling those helmets out of the garage right now. As an Army wife with 5 small children who has gone through countless year-long deployments, I have learned the hard way that asking for help when you need it is not weakness. Weakness is putting on that false picture of super w...

Sufferers of anorexia and bulimia could reduce their fear and anxieties around food by visiting a computer generated restaurant and pretending to dine, a study shows. (Source: Telegraph Health)

Authors: Mond JM, Hay PJ, Paxton SJ, Rodgers B, Darby A, Nillson J, Quirk F, Owen C Attitudes and beliefs concerning the nature and treatment of bulimia nervosa (BN) were compared among young adult women at low risk of an eating disorder (n = 332), at high risk (n = 83), or already showing symptoms (n = 94). Participants completed a self-report questionnaire that included a measure of eating disorder symptoms. A vignette of a fictional person suffering from BN was presented, followed by a series of questions addressing the nature and treatment of the problem described. High-risk and symptomatic participants were more likely than low-risk participants to report that they would not approach anyone for advice or help, were they to have BN or a similar problem, because they would not want ...

CONCLUSIONS: No cognitive impairment was found in untreated patients with BN. Neuroendocrine, personality and clinical variables do influence neurocognitive functioning and might explain discrepancies in literature findings. PMID: 20594380 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher] (Source: Psychological Medicine)

To assess the 30-month outcome and predictors of outcome in a cohort of patients with any eating disorder (ED).A naturalistic design was used to determine time to remission, predictors of remission, relapse, diagnostic cross-over and mortality of 629 patients.At follow-up (FU) 312 patients attended, 42% obtained full remission and 72% partial remission. No differences were found between diagnostic groups for adolescents. Adult patients with anorexia-like eating disorder not otherwise specified-anorexia nervosa (EDNOS-AN) had the poorest outcome. Bulimia-like EDNOS was the most frequent relapse diagnosis. Bingeing/purging behaviour predicted a poorer outcome for individuals with bulimic disorders. Desired low BMI predicted a poorer outcome for individuals with anorexia. Comorbid personality...MedWorm Message: Register for MedMatcha, MedWorm's medical advertising network, and receive $5 free advertising.

Literature on eating disorders (EDs) among South Asian people in Britain is limited. In an extension of an earlier study, referrals to the Leicester Adult Eating Disorders Service were examined between 1991 and 2005. All South-Asians presenting to the service were compared on age, gender and diagnosis with non-Asians. Female Asian patients diagnosed as bulimia nervosa and ED not otherwise specified were compared on a larger number of variables with the same number of non-Asian patients matched for diagnosis. As there were only six Asian patients with anorexia nervosa they were excluded from this comparison. Only 4.5% of female patients were Asian, as opposed to 13.8% of the local young female population in the most recent UK census. Overall, Asian women were significantly younger than the ...

The Internet can be a dangerous place for young people, from online predators to identity theft. Now, adding to the list of potential online hazards, are a slew of websites that actually encourage eating disorders by asserting that anorexia and bulimia are lifestyle choices rather than life-threatening mental illnesses. “I’m about to start on a 30 hour fast, who’s with me? We can do it!” reads one post on a pro-anorexia website. Another girl posts a picture of her hipbone on her Twitter account, eliciting approving comments about how far it juts out. On pro-ana and pro-mia (anorexia and bulimia) sites, users share tips on how to avoid eating without anyone noticing. Questions are posed—do vitamins have calories? Interactive features, like calorie counters and BMI calculators, are...