Health Conditions

What is it?

An eating disorder is defined as a continual disturbance of eating or eating-related behavior that results in the altered consumption or absorption of food, significantly impairing physical health or psychological and social functioning.

Eating disorders are often long-term problems, which can cause immeasurable suffering for victims and their families. There are generally two recognized types of eating disorders:

1. Anorexia Nervosa (AN) - This disorder's name means "loss of appetite." In reality, the person has not actually lost their appetite, but chooses to deny the hunger because of an unreasonable fear of becoming fat. If left untreated, anorexia nervosa can be fatal, with an estimated fatality rate of 6% in serious cases.

Individuals with anorexia nervosa can be further categorized based on their eating behaviors.

• Restrictive Type: Individuals with this specific type of anorexia nervosa limit the amount of food they eat, typically eliminating foods that contain fat. These individuals also tend to exercise excessively to assist in weight loss.
• Binge Eating/Purging Type: These individuals are first diagnosed with the restrictive type of anorexia nervosa and then begin to regularly engage in the binge eating and purging behaviors that are more commonly linked with bulimia nervosa. (For definitions of binge eating and purging, see the section on bulimia nervosa.)

2. Bulimia Nervosa (BN) - This eating disorder is described by repeated episodes of binge eating, during which large amounts of food are consumed in a short period of time (sometimes as many as 20,000 calories). To be diagnosed with bulimia nervosa, binge eating needs to occur at least twice every week for a 3-month period. As a result of the repeated binge eating, the person often feels depressed and guilty.

Individuals with bulimia nervosa can be further categorized based on their purging behaviors.

• Purging Type: Individuals with this specific type of bulimia nervosa will have an episode of binge eating followed by self-induced vomiting, abuse of laxatives and/or diuretics (water-pills) to avoid gaining weight from the binge.
• Non-Purging Type: Individuals with this specific type of bulimia nervosa will have an episode of binge eating and then use other behaviors to offset the behavior, such as fasting or excessive exercise. Individuals with this type of bulimia nervosa do not regularly engage in self-induced vomiting or the misuse of laxatives and/or diuretics.

Many times it is difficult to differentiate between anorexia nervosa and bulimia nervosa. Every individual who resorts to binge eating and purging may not be classified as bulimic because of the subgroup of patients diagnosed with anorexia nervosa who may also display these behaviors. Furthermore, a large percentage of individuals may have both eating disorders at the same time. It has been estimated that 50% of anorexics will develop bulimia nervosa and that 30% to 40% of bulimics will develop anorexia nervosa.

3. Binge Eating Disorder (BED) - This eating disorder is characterized by recurrent consumption of large amounts of food without purging, fasting, or excessive exercise. The difference between binge eating disorder and non-purging type bulimia nervosa is the behavior that takes place after binge eating. In non-purging type bulimia nervosa after binge eating the individual will try to offset their calorie consumption by fasting or excessive exercise. In binge eating disorder the individual does nothing to offset the calorie consumption. The person eats to a point of uncomfortable fullness. Binge eaters focus less on their body image than people with anorexia nervosa and bulimia nervosa. A binge eater often eats alone and has feelings of shame or guilt after binging. Consequences of binge eating include death (approximately 300,000 deaths per year), obesity, and depression.

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