- Not yet a formal diagnosis, but seems to be separate from bulimia nervosa. At present, falls into the category of "Eating disorder not otherwise specified: EDNOS."
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- The person purges (vomits, abuses laxatives, diuretics, emetics, etc.) but does not binge eat.
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- Person maintains normal or near normal weight.
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- Researchers suspect that purging disorder may be more common than anorexia nervosa and bulimia combined.
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- There is a scholarly discussion of purging disorder in the International Journal of Eating Disorders 2005; 38:191-100. A public librarian or a research librarian in your school or local hospital can tell you how to obtain a copy.
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- Not a formal diagnosis. The behaviors are usually a part of anorexia nervosa, bulimia, or obsessive-compulsive disorder.
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- The person repeatedly exercises beyond the requirements for good health.
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- May be a fanatic about weight and diet.
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- Steals time to exercise from work, school, and relationships.
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- Strives to achieve and master ever more difficult challenges. Forgets that physical activity can be fun.
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- Defines self-worth in terms of performance
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- Is rarely or never satisfied with athletic achievements. Small satisfactions are fleeting. Does not savor victory. Pushes on to the next challenge immediately.
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- Justifies excessive behavior by defining self as a "special" elite athlete.
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- Compulsive exercising is not an official diagnosis as are anorexia, bulimia, and binge eating disorder. We include it here because many people who are preoccupied with food and weight exercise compulsively in attempts to control weight. The real issues are not weight and performance excellence but rather control and self-respect. For more information, go to Athletes With Eating Disorders and Males and Females and Obligatory Exercise.
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- People with BDD are excessively concerned about appearance, in particular perceived flaws of face, hair, and skin. They are convinced these flaws exist in spite of reassurances from friends and family members who usually can see nothing to justify such intense worry and anxiety.
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- The person with an eating disorder says, "I am so fat." The person with BDD says, "I am so ugly."
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- BDD often includes social phobias. Sufferers are shy and withdrawn in new situations and with unfamiliar people.
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- BDD affects about two percent of the people in the United States. It strikes males and females equally. Seventy percent of cases appear before age eighteen.
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- BDD sufferers are at elevated risk for despair and suicide. In some cases they undergo multiple, unnecessary plastic surgeries.
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- BDD is thought to be a subtype of obsessive-compulsive disorder. It is not a variant of anorexia nervosa or bulimia nervosa.
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- BDD is treatable and begins with an evaluation by a physician and mental health care provider. Treatments thus far found to be effective include medication (especially meds that adjust serotonin levels in the brain) and cognitive-behavioral therapy. A clinician makes the diagnosis and recommends treatment based on the needs and circumstances of each person.
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- Not an official eating disorder, but the topic has gathered the interest of researchers.
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- May be related to a type of obsessive-compulsive disorder triggered by an auto immune process involving bacteria or viruses and parts of the nervous system.
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- May be related to pediatric infection-triggered auto immune neuropsychiatric disorders (PITANDS) and pediatric autoimmune neuropsychiatric disorders associated with streptococcus (PANDAS).
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- Suspected when symptoms and behaviors typical of anorexia nervosa appear suddenly in a young child, or when symptoms and behaviors in a young child worsen quickly with no other explanation.
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- And when the child has had a recent respiratory, throat, or other infection.
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- Antibiotics, antivirals, and/or vaccines may be part of the treatment, either after refusal to eat appears or as prevention.
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- The first step in treatment is a thorough evaluation done by a pediatrician who is familiar with PITANDS and PANDAS research.
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- Reference for physicians: Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Volume 36, Number 8.
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- Not an official eating disorder diagnosis, but the concept is useful. The name was coined by Steven Bratman, M.D., to describe "a pathological fixation on eating 'proper' or 'pure' or 'superior' food." In everyday language, orthorexia is an unhealthy fixation on healthy eating.
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- People with orthorexia nervosa feel superior to others who eat "improper" food, which might include non-organic or fun foods and items found in regular grocery stores, as opposed to health food stores.
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- Orthorexics obsess over what to eat, how much to eat, how to prepare food "properly," and where to obtain "pure" and "proper" foods.
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- Eating the "right" food becomes an important ,or even the primary, focus of life. One's worth or goodness is seen in terms of what one does or does not eat. Personal values, relationships, career goals, and friendships become less important than the quality and timing of what is consumed.
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- Perhaps related to, or a type of, obsessive-compulsive disorder
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- Person is preoccupied with fine food, including its purchase, preparation, presentation, and consumption. S/he is less engaged than previously with friends, family, job, and other activities.
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- Gourmand syndrome is very rare. Only 34 cases have been reported in medical literature. It is thought to be caused by injury to the right side of the brain -- tumor, concussion, stroke, etc.
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- Some symptoms overlap with obsessive-compulsive and addictive disorders.
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- In spite of their "lusting after food" and enthusiastic consumption of it, people with gourmand syndrome do not seem to become fat. Nor do they vomit, abuse laxatives, or engage in other pathological weight-loss behaviors. They had normal relationships with food before the brain injury.
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- Cognitive, behavioral, and motor impairments are common, probably also related to the brain injury. People are not particularly troubled by their new consuming interest.
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- Treatment should begin with a neurologist or possibly a psychiatrist.
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