Eating Disorders

Signs and Symptoms

• Disturbance of body image
• Excessive fear of fatness
• Excessive emphasis on thinness

There is restriction of energy intake leading to significantly less weight. Many medical symptoms might also arise out of extreme starvation like amenorrhea, poor sexual development, lanugo, hypothermia, dependent edema, bradycardia.

Subtypes

• Restricting: Seen in 50 % of the cases and characterized by highly restricted food intake
• Binge eating/purging subtype: seen in 25-50%, in this patient attempts alternate rigorous dieting with intermittent binging and purging episodes

Treatment:

Treatment may include hospitalization to restore nutritional status and manage complication of dehydration and electrolyte imbalances. It also focuses on combination of behavioral management, individual psychotherapy and family education.

Few other eating disorders are Bulimia nervosa, obesity, Binge eating disorder.