Eating Disorders

Eating disorders

Introduction

Anorexia nervosa is a disorder of eating behavior in which the affected person performs fasting, an excessive food restriction or other purgative behaviors such as induction of vomiting, inadequate use of diuretics or laxatives or excessive realization of physical exercise. Affected people have a much lower weight than expected depending on their age, sex or height. Anorexia is more frequent in women (up to 90%) than in men (up to 10%) and is usually presented at the adolescence stage between 14 and 19 years, although less frequently can also occur in peopleadults.

Developing

The diagnosis of anorexia nervosa according to the diagnostic and statistical manual of Mental DSM-5 disorders (APA, 2014), requires the manifestation of the following symptoms:

Restriction of caloric intake depending on the needs, which generates a significantly low weight decrease in relation to age, sex and the stage of development in which the person is.

Intense fear of increasing weight or persevering behaviors that interfere with weight increase, even when it is already in a significantly low weight.

Alteration in the perception of one’s own weight or physical constitution, which is improperly determined by the weight itself, the body constitution or lack of recognition of the gravity of low weight.

Anorexia nervosa can be of restrictive or purgative type:

Restrictive type: in the last three months the person has not performed recurring episodes of purges or binge (such as the provocation of the vomit or use of laxatives or diuretics).

Weight loss is mainly due to diet, fasting or excessive physical exercise.

Type with binge/purges: In the last three months, the person has suffered frequent episodes of binge or purges (such as vomiting or the use of laxatives, enemas or diuretics).

Gravity is determined from the body mass index (BMI):

• Mild: BMI greater than 17 kg/m²
• Moderate: BMI between 16 and 16.99 kg/m²
• Severe: BMI between 15 and 15.99 kg/m²
• Extreme: BMI under 15 kg/m²

Bulimia nervosa

Bulimia nervosa consists of the recurring realization of binge. The presence of bingeks is determined by the realization of:

Ingestion within a certain period (P. eg., two hours), of a greater amount of food than most people would consume in the same period and circumstances.

Sensation of loss of control over ingestion during episode (P. eg., feeling of not stopping eating or not controlling the intake or volume of food consumed).

conclusion

The realization of inappropriate and repeated compensation behaviors to avoid the increase in weight, such as self-relocated vomit, the unplayed use of laxatives or diuretics, fasting or excessive physical exercise. Inappropriate compensation behaviors and compensation behaviors are held at least once a week in a period of three months. Personal self-assessment is improperly influenced by body itself and body weight.

The severity of the nervous bulimia is determined by the frequency of compensatory behaviors and can be increased by the manifestation of another symptomatology and depending on the functional disability that the disorder produces.

Mild: an average of 1-3 episodes of inadequate compensatory behaviors made during the week.

Moderate: an average of 4-7 episodes of inadequate compensatory behaviors made during the week.

Serious: an average of 8-13 episodes of inadequate compensatory behaviors made during week.

Extreme: an average of 14 episodes of inadequate compensatory behaviors made during the week.

Bibliography

American Psychiatric Association. (2014). DSM-5: Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders. Madrid: Pan American Medical Editorial.

Raich, e. R. (2017). Anorexia, bulimia and other eating disorders. Madrid: Pyramid Editions