This week is National Eating Disorder Awareness Week. National Eating Disorder Awareness, or NEDA “ is committed to providing help for those affected by eating disorders.” NEDA offers the latest information, resources, advocacy and media campaigns to education the public and most importantly to develop a “sense of community to people often feeling alone and overwhelmed in their struggle to access quality, affordable care,” says Lynn Grefe, NEDA CEO. NEDA’s slogan for this week is “It’s time to talk about it.”
According to the Mayo Clinic, “eating disorders are a group of conditions in which you are so preoccupied with food and weight that you can often focus on little else.”
Anorexia nervosa, bulimia nervosa and binge eating disorder are the main types of eatings disorders. Up to 24 million people in the US suffer from eating disorders, according the National Institutes of Mental Health. Women are more likely to suffer from eating disorders than men, but eating disorders in the US are on the rise in both men and women. The average duration of an eating disorder is between 1-15 years and more than 90 percent of eating disorders start between the ages of 12 and 25.
The demographics of the Washington DC area “put a lot of pressure on our youth to be good at a lot of things, from sports to school, to pleasing peers and parents,” said Dr. Elinor Scully, Associate Head of School at National Cathedral School. Scully says that women especially are subject to, “unrealistic expectations about the way they are expected to look.”
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According to Jessica Ganzer, R.D. who works with the dietetic end of eating disorders, a common problem in the metro area is exercise anorexia, or extreme exercising. “Exercise is deemed more socially acceptable and some people put exercise on a pedestal; more is better.”
Eating disorders are a serious medical condition. Statistically, the death rate of people with eating disorders is between 10-25 percent, often from suicide. Starvation can damage vital organs such as the brain and heart. Breathing, pulse and blood pressure drop severely, heart arrhythmia can occur and heart failure is possible. Thyroid functioning and chronic kidney damage are often side affects of eating disorders. Because of deficient nutrition, calcium is lost from bones and can result in spontaneous breakage. Luckily, most of these conditions can be reversed if caught early enough and normal eating resumes.
There are warning signs to look for in anorexia and bulimia. Teens suffering from anorexia are most often perfectionist, high achieving students, but also suffer from low self-esteem or may have had a traumatic life event. The anorexic feels a need for mastery over his or her life and so experiences a sense of control when she/he says “no” to the normal food demands of the body.
Bulimia symptoms differ from those of anorexia. The bulimic person binges on huge quantities of high caloric food and then purges the body of those calories by self induced vomiting and abuse of laxatives. These binges may alternate with severe diets, resulting in extreme weight fluctuations. Whereas the anorexic is usually extremely thin, the bulimic may be “of normal weight or even overweight” said Debra Caplowe, a local therapist who often works with eating disordered clients.
An unnatural concern about body weight, an obsession with calories, fat grams, food, and exercise and the use of any medicines to keep from gaining weight are just a few signs of an eating disorder. Other warning signs call out to us, but are often ignored. According to Caplowe, some of the signs to look for are:
1. Fainting, over-exercising,
2. Sensitivity to cold weather
3. Burst capillaries in and below the eyes and scarred hands from forced vomiting
4. Lying about how much was eaten
5. Denying that there is anything wrong
6. Brittle nails and hair
7. Erosion of tooth enamel
8. Excessive thirst and urination
Caplowe reminds us that eating disorders are “a very serious issue, both psychologically and medically.”
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If you suspect that someone you know has an eating disorder, start by being supportive. Contact your family doctor and ask for a referral to an eating disorder specialist. Use the following websites to gain more information and help.
http://www.nationaleatingdisorders.org/about-us/
http://www.theravive.com/
http://www.renfrewcenter.com/for-you/signs-symptoms.asp
http://www.eatright.org
http://www.eatingrecoverycenter.com/
http://www.dominionhospital.com/
