Eating disorders frequently appear during the teen years or young adulthood but may also develop during childhood or later in life. Common eating disorders include anorexia nervosa, bulimia nervosa, and binge-eating disorder.

Eating disorders affect both men and women. It is unknown how many adults and children suffer with other serious, significant eating disorders, including one category of eating disorders called eating disorders not otherwise specified (EDNOS). EDNOS includes eating disorders that do not meet the criteria for anorexia or bulimia nervosa. Binge-eating disorder is a type of eating disorder called EDNOS.³ EDNOS is the most common diagnosis among people who seek treatment.

Eating disorders are real, treatable medical illnesses. They frequently coexist with other illnesses such as depression, substance abuse, or anxiety disorders. Other symptoms, described in the next section can become life-threatening if a person does not receive treatment. People with anorexia nervosa are 18 times more likely to die early compared with people of similar age in the general population.

What are the different types of eating disorders?

Anorexia nervosa

Anorexia nervosa is characterized by:

• Extreme thinness (emaciation)
• A relentless pursuit of thinness and unwillingness to maintain a normal or healthy weight
• Intense fear of gaining weight
• Distorted body image, a self-esteem that is heavily influenced by perceptions of body weight and shape, or a denial of the seriousness of low body weight
• Lack of menstruation among girls and women
• Extremely restricted eating.

Many people with anorexia nervosa see themselves as overweight, even when they are clearly underweight. Eating, food, and weight control become obsessions. People with anorexia nervosa typically weigh themselves repeatedly, portion food carefully, and eat very small quantities of only certain foods. Some people with anorexia nervosa may also engage in binge-eating followed by extreme dieting, excessive exercise, self-induced vomiting, and/or misuse of laxatives, diuretics, or enemas.

Some who have anorexia nervosa recover with treatment after only one episode. Others get well but have relapses. Still others have a more chronic, or long-lasting, form of anorexia nervosa, in which their health declines as they battle the illness.

Other symptoms may develop over time, including:

• Thinning of the bones (osteopenia or osteoporosis)
• Brittle hair and nails
• Dry and yellowish skin
• Growth of fine hair all over the body (lanugo)
• Mild anemia and muscle wasting and weakness
• Severe constipation
• Low blood pressure, slowed breathing and pulse
• Damage to the structure and function of the heart
• Brain damage
• Multiorgan failure
• Drop in internal body temperature, causing a person to feel cold all the time
• Lethargy, sluggishness, or feeling tired all the time
• Infertility.

Bulimia nervosa

Bulimia nervosa is characterized by recurrent and frequent episodes of eating unusually large amounts of food and feeling a lack of control over these episodes. This binge-eating is followed by behavior that compensates for the overeating such as forced vomiting, excessive use of laxatives or diuretics, fasting, excessive exercise, or a combination of these behaviors.

Unlike anorexia nervosa, people with bulimia nervosa usually maintain what is considered a healthy or normal weight, while some are slightly overweight. But like people with anorexia nervosa, they often fear gaining weight, want desperately to lose weight, and are intensely unhappy with their body size and shape. Usually, bulimic behavior is done secretly because it is often accompanied by feelings of disgust or shame. The binge-eating and purging cycle happens anywhere from several times a week to many times a day.

Other symptoms include:

• Chronically inflamed and sore throat
• Swollen salivary glands in the neck and jaw area
• Worn tooth enamel, increasingly sensitive and decaying teeth as a result of exposure to stomach acid
• Acid reflux disorder and other gastrointestinal problems
• Intestinal distress and irritation from laxative abuse
• Severe dehydration from purging of fluids
• Electrolyte imbalance (too low or too high levels of sodium, calcium, potassium and other minerals) which can lead to heart attack.

Binge-eating disorder

With binge-eating disorder a person loses control over his or her eating. Unlike bulimia nervosa, periods of binge-eating are not followed by purging, excessive exercise, or fasting. As a result, people with binge-eating disorder often are over-weight or obese. People with binge-eating disorder who are obese are at higher risk for developing cardiovascular disease and high blood pressure.⁹ They also experience guilt, shame, and distress about their binge-eating, which can lead to more binge-eating.

Reference: National Institute of Mental Health
Having treated many Eating Disorder patients Dr. Dal provides diagnosis and treatment services for Eating Disorders.

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Effective therapies for anxiety disorders are available, and research is uncovering new treatments that can help most people with anxiety disorders lead productive, fulfilling lives. If you think you have an anxiety disorder, you should seek information and treatment right away.

Each anxiety disorder has different symptoms, but all the symptoms cluster around excessive, irrational fear and dread.

Reference: National Institute Of Mental Health

Having treated many Anxiety patients Dr. Dal provides diagnosis and treatment services for Anxiety.

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Every individual goes through phases of feeling low, down, sad, or empty. Under normal circumstances, such feelings will go away after some time. But when an individual persistently experiences intense feelings of sadness² and emptiness lasting 2 weeks or longer, and the feelings escalate to despair, it is no longer considered normal; the individual may have been manifesting symptoms of clinical depression.

Depression impacts significantly on daily functions and activities of its victims. In essence, depressed persons no longer enjoy the activities they used to look forward to; they lose interest, motivation, energy, etc. They find it extremely difficult to get through the day. The lows of depression can be so overwhelming that some sufferers may feel that they would never get better and think about and even attempt to commit suicide.

For some people, depression presents with feelings of helplessness, hopelessness, and/or worthlessness. It can also manifest with feeling lifeless, lethargic, irritable, or languid. In men depression can manifest itself as anger, aggressiveness, and restlessness³. The National Institute of Mental Health reports that people with depression don’t experience or manifest the same symptoms,⁴which may vary based on gender, age, and to a certain degree according to culture.

Most of manifesting symptoms match DSM criteria and more importantly people with depression do get better with treatment. Understanding the illness -including risk factors, its symptoms, and treatment options- is the first step to take in addressing the problem and start the journey towards recovery.

A person might be suffering from clinical depression if she/he has 5 or more of the following symptoms⁵:

1. Depressed mood
2. Anhedonia (marked decrease or loss of pleasure)
3. Significant weight loss (without dieting) or weight gain
4. Insomnia or hypersomnia nearly every day
5. Psychomotor agitation or retardation almost every day
6. Fatigue or loss of energy almost every day
7. Feeling worthless or excessive guilt nearly every day
8. Diminished concentration or indeciveness almost every day
9. Recurrent thoughts of death or recurrent suicidal ideation, plan, or attempt

References:

1. National Institute of Mental Health: Depression. US NIH Publication No. 11-3561, Revised 2011.
2. WebMD. Article. Getting Help for Depression <http://www.webmd.com/depression/default.htm>
3. Helpguide.org. Article. Understanding Depression <http://www.helpguide.org/mental/depression_signs_types_diagnosis_treatment.htm>
4. Nimh.nih.gov. Article. What are the signs and symptoms of depression? <http://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/publications/depression/what-are-the-signs-and-symptoms-of-depression.shtml>
5.  Diagnostic Statistical Manual (DSM-IV-TR), http://www.psych.org/practice/dsm/dsm-iv-tr

This article was first published at DrDal.com.

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Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is one of the most common childhood disorders and can continue through adolescence and adulthood. Symptoms include difficulty staying focused and paying attention, difficulty controlling behavior, and hyperactivity (over-activity).

ADHD has three subtypes:¹

• Predominantly hyperactive-impulsive
  • Most symptoms (six or more) are in the hyperactivity-impulsivity categories.
  • Fewer than six symptoms of inattention are present, although inattention may still be present to some degree.

• Predominantly inattentive
  • The majority of symptoms (six or more) are in the inattention category and fewer than six symptoms of hyperactivity-impulsivity are present, although hyperactivity-impulsivity may still be present to some degree.
  • Children with this subtype are less likely to act out or have difficulties getting along with other children. They may sit quietly, but they are not paying attention to what they are doing. Therefore, the child may be overlooked, and parents and teachers may not notice that he or she has ADHD.

• Combined hyperactive-impulsive and inattentive
  • Six or more symptoms of inattention and six or more symptoms of hyperactivity-impulsivity are present.
  • Most children have the combined type of ADHD.

Treatments can relieve many of the disorder’s symptoms, but there is no cure. With treatment, most people with ADHD can be successful in school and lead productive lives. Researchers are developing more effective treatments and interventions, and using new tools such as brain imaging, to better understand ADHD and to find more effective ways to treat and prevent it.