List of Eating Related Disorders
Eating disorders refer to a group of conditions characterized by abnormal eating habits that may involve either insufficient or excessive food intake to the detriment of an individual's physical and emotional health. Binge eating disorder, bulimia nervosa, anorexia nervosa being the most common specific forms in the United States. Though primarily thought of as affecting females (an estimated 5–10 million being affected in the U.S.), eating disorders affect males as well (an estimated 1 million U.S. males being affected). Although eating disorders are increasing all over the world among both men and women, there is evidence to suggest that it is women in the Western world who are at the highest risk of developing them and the degree of westernization increases the risk.
The reason for eating disorders is poorly known, but, it might involve other conditions and situations. One study showed that girls with ADHD have a greater chance of getting an eating disorder than those not affected by ADHD. One study showed that foster girls are more likely to develop bulimia nervosa. Some also think that peer pressure and idealized body-types seen in the media are also a significant factor. However, research shows that for some people there is a genetic reason why they may be prone to developing an eating disorder.
While proper treatment can be highly effective for many of the specific types of eating disorder, the consequences of eating disorders can be severe, including death (whether from direct medical effects of disturbed eating habits or from conditions such as suicidal thinking).
Specific eating disorders
- Anorexia nervosa (AN), characterized by refusal to maintain a healthy body weight and an obsessive fear of gaining weight. Anorexia can cause menstruation to stop, and often leads to bone loss, loss of skin integrity, etc. It greatly stresses the heart, increasing the risk of heart attacks and related heart problems. The risk of death is greatly increased in individuals with this disease.
- Bulimia nervosa (BN), characterized by recurrent binge eating followed by compensatory behaviours such as purging (self-induced vomiting, excessive use of laxatives/diuretics, or excessive exercise).
- Binge eating disorder (BED), characterized by binge eating, without compensatory behaviour.
- Purging disorder, characterized by recurrent purging to control weight or shape in the absence of binge eating episodes
- Rumination, characterized by involving the repeated painless regurgitation of food following a meal which is then either re-chewed and re-swallowed, or discarded.
- Diabulimia, characterized by the deliberate manipulation of insulin levels by diabetics in an effort to control their weight.
- Food maintenance, characterized by a set of aberrant eating behaviours of children in foster care.
- Eating disorders not otherwise specified (EDNOS) can refer to a number of disorders. It can refer to a female individual who suffers from anorexia but still has her period, someone who may be at a "healthy weight", but who has anorexic thought patterns and behaviours, it can mean the sufferer equally participates in some anorexic as well as bulimic behaviours (sometimes referred to as purge-type anorexia), or to any combination of Eating Disorder behaviours which do not directly put them in a separate category.
- Pica, characterized by a compulsive craving for eating, chewing or licking non-food items or foods containing no nutrition. These can include such things as chalk, paper, plaster, paint chips, baking soda, starch, glue, rust, ice, coffee grounds, and cigarette ashes.
- Night Eating Syndrome, characterized by morning anorexia, evening polyphagia (abnormally increased appetite for consumption of food (frequently associated with insomnia, and injury to the hypothalamus).
- Orthorexia nervosa, a term used by Steven Bratman to characterize an obsession with a "pure" diet, where it interferes with a person's life.
- Several of the above mentioned disorders, such as diabulimia, food maintenance syndrome and orthorexia nervosa, are not currently recognized as mental disorders in any of the medical manuals, such as the ICD-10 or the DSM-IV.