About one in ten people with an eating disorder such as anorexia or bulimia are male. We still don't know what causes eating disorders. Researchers have suggested that they stem from the pressures of a weight-conscious Western society, family or relationship problems, and physical and neurological changes in susceptible people. It seems likely that several factors are at work.
Identifying symptoms
One of the main problems in eating disorders is 'body image disturbance'. The illnesses cause a person to have a very inaccurate idea of their own shape.
Asked to stand beside a door, for example, a man with anorexia might think he 'blocks out' the whole doorway because he is so overweight; looking at his thin forearm and bony hand, he might think he is covered in unsightly fat. Recent research has suggested that male bodybuilders might have similar kinds of body image disturbance to that experienced by people with anorexia.
There are a few other features of anorexia. To confirm the diagnosis, the patient must mistakenly think they're too heavy, and be dieting to lose weight. People with anorexia usually have a body mass index of less than 17.5. (Use the BBC Health BMI calculator to work out yours.)
Other ways of trying to lose weight include excessive exercise, extreme 'fat-free' diets, making yourself sick after meals, or purging with laxative and diuretic drugs. Some people with diabetes or thyroid problems manipulate their medication to promote weight loss. Although anorexia means ‘loss of appetite', sufferers are often very hungry - and may have a strong interest in watching others eat, or in helping to prepare their food.
Bulimia shares the body image disturbance of anorexia, but sufferers are more likely to be of normal weight, and binge-eating is more of a problem than dieting.
Living with an eating disorder
The consequences are serious. Not only is it difficult to maintain a normal social life, but the illness often causes intense family upset, and it's not easy to remain fit and alert at work. The body's systems have to work hard to adjust to the changed metabolism caused by abnormal diet, and dangerous changes can occur - particularly when people are making themselves vomit.
How to get help
Treatment needs to be long term, and is best carried out by a psychiatrist or psychologist with a special interest in these disorders. Some drugs, such as 'SSRI' antidepressants like fluoxetine (Prozac) can help to regulate eating - particularly binge eating. Cognitive therapy and self-help groups can also be useful.
Eating Disorders News:
Adiposity Hormone, Leptin, Regulates Food Intake By Influencing Learning And Memory - New animal research reveals mechanism that links memory and feeding behavior with leptin, a hormone released from fat cells Research presented at the Annual Meeting of the Society for the Study of Ingestive Behavior (SSIB), the foremost society for research into all aspects of eating and drinking behavior, finds that the hormone leptin reduces food intake, in part, by ac...
Brain Responses In Obesity Are More Weakly Linked To Feelings Of Hunger - New research finds that the brains of overweight people are less sensitive to feelings of hunger when responding to the smell and taste of food, compared to healthy weight individuals Research presented at the Annual Meeting of the Society for the Study of Ingestive Behavior (SSIB), the foremost society for research into all aspects of eating and drinking behavior, finds tha...
Patients With Eating Disorders Adversely Affected By Virtual Food - Food presented in a virtual reality (VR) environment causes the same emotional responses as real food...
One In Four Palestinian Children Goes Without Breakfast - The eating habits of children and adolescents are studied in one of the Abstracts published Online by The Lancet, with the disturbing findings that one in four children miss breakfast, one in 10 is anaemic, and one in 17 is stunted. Furthermore, 2% are underweight and 15% are either overweight or obese...
Authoritative Parenting Style Influences Family Eating Behavior And Better Nutrition In Adolescents - Investigators from the University of Minnesota have found a direct association between parenting style and the frequency of meals eaten together as a family and that an authoritative parenting style was associated with more frequent family meals. Their data further indicated that family meals have a positive influence on adolescents to eat a healthy diet...
UNICEF And WFP Appeal For Urgent Mobilization Of The International Community To Fight Child Malnutrition In Niger - The nutritional situation of children in Niger has deteriorated considerably in the last 12 months, according to the results of the annual survey on child nutrition publicly released this Thursday. The World Food Programme (WFP) and UNICEF urge the international community to mobilize all necessary resources to enable them to protect and heal suffering children...
Study Links Malnutrition And Depression In Elderly Hospital Patients - Over half of malnourished patients in hospital also show signs of depression, according to a small-scale study presented today at the International Congress of the Royal College of Psychiatrists in Edinburgh. Doctors from Barnet and Chase Farm Hospitals NHS Trust in London studied 129 elderly patients who were admitted to medical wards in August 2009...
Body-Image Distortion Predicts Onset Of Unsafe Weight-Loss Behaviors - Normal weight and underweight teenage girls who falsely believe they are overweight are at significantly greater risk of succumbing to unnecessary and unsafe weight-loss behaviors than girls who can accurately assess their weight status, according to new research by a University of Illinois expert in eating disorders and body-image perception. Janet M...
Pro-Eating Disorder Websites: First Large-Scale Analysis Conducted By Hopkins/Stanford Researchers - Web sites that promote anorexia and bulimia offer interactive communities where site users can encourage one another in unhealthy eating behaviors, yet the majority of these sites also recognize eating disorders as a disease, according to new research from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and the Stanford University School of Medicine...
Blocking Hormone Lowers Sensitivity To Sugar, Opening Door For Food Additives Or Drugs - A hormone that helps to regulate blood sugar levels may also influence a person's sensitivity to sweet-tasting foods, according to a new study from researchers at the University of Maryland School of Medicine. They found that blocking the tongue's ability to respond to the hormone known as glucagon decreases the taste system's sensitivity to sweetness...
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