Eating Disorders - Return To Health
At least eight million people in the United States suffer from eating disorders. It is a disturbing fact that statistics indicate six percent of people with serious eating disorders die.
Anorexia Nervosa is considered a psychological disorder characterized by a refusal to maintain a minimal normal body weight for an appropriate age and height. It is characterized by intense fear of gaining weight or becoming fat. Victims of this disorder often loose touch with reality and develop a distorted body image. No matter how thin they become, they often perceive themselves as grossly overweight.
Bulimia Nervosa is a much more prevalent psychological disorder. Bulimics participate in recurrent episodes of "binge eating" or rapid, uncontrolled consumption of large amounts of food. They regularly engage in self - induced vomiting, use of laxatives or diuretics, strict dieting or fasting and vigorous exercise to prevent weight gain. Bulimia is often referred to as a secret disease because, unlike anorexics who lose an average of fifteen percent of their body weight, bulimics generally are of normal weight or slightly overweight.
Bulimarexia may be the most destructive and deadly form of eating disorders. When a person with anorexia nervosa begins to binge and purge their body undergoes the devastating effects of starvation as well as the stress of binging and purging.
"Although one percent of U.S. women have anorexia and nineteen percent have bulimia, a much higher percentage is believed to have a subclinical eating disorder" says Dr. Darlene Atkins, director of the eating disorders clinic at Childrens National Medical Center in Washington. A subclinical eating disorder may entail more than strange eating rituals. "We may not call it bulimia" says psychologist Janet Polivy of the University of Toronto, "but there's nothing normal about binge eating, making yourself throw up or taking laxatives or diuretics, even if it's only once a month". It is important to understand that even a subclinical eating disorder can cause physical problems including digestive disorders, electrolyte imbalances and cardiac arrhythmias.
The onset of eating disorders often begin in the teen years. About eighty-six percent report onset by the age of twenty. I find it frightening to note, of that percentage, about ten percent are age ten or younger!
Everyday we are faced with societal pressures to be slim, the current trend being waif-like. Feelings of inadequacy or low self - esteem accompanied by a rigid, protective or dysfunctional family environment may lead a person to unconsciously grapple with a psychological problem through their diet and take on these behaviors that may lead to their death.
Despite the wide array of physical symptoms and medical complications that accompany these disorders , it's victims often avoid medical care to evade detection. However, pain and discomfort secondary to dental complications often cause them to seek out dental care. The dental team may play a vital role in detecting eating disorders and coordinating care for these patients.
Symptoms that might be detected during a dental examination include excessive enamel erosion secondary to repeated exposure to gastric acids, increase in decay, gingivitis and periodontal disease, hypersensitive teeth, contusions or lacerations from inserting objects to induce vomiting, mouth sores and swelling of the salivary glands.
The emphasis is to work with the patients to recognize that they have an eating disorder, to help them obtain the appropriate care and to actively participate in their comprehensive care. Restoration of dental health and regaining a normal appearance can be an important aspect of recovery.
To return to good health, victims of eating disorders must resolve underlying issues. It requires respecting the patients thoughts and emotions and helping them to develop a relationship with psychiatrists, psychologists, physicians and nutritional councilors.