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Research Defines New Eating Disorder
New York, Sept. 21, 2007
Researchers in the field of eating disorders have defined a new disorder: purging disorder.
People, most of whom are women, have suffered from it for years, but doctors are just starting to recognize the disorder. University of Iowa professor Pamela Keel led a new study on it and appeared on The Early Show to explain her research.
How is purging disorder different from anorexia or bulimia? "With anorexia nervosa, it's a self-starvation syndrome so women are under weight. Whereas women with purging disorder have a normal weight. Women (with) bulimia have large eating episodes for which they compensate. Women with purging disorder are vomiting even after a small amount of food," Keel said.
And because the amounts are small, the disorder is difficult to detect. "Yes, because the outward signs of the illness are not obvious," said Keel. "They're not obviously underweight and there's no obvious problem in their eating patterns."
Who has purging disorder? We asked Keel to describe the average purger.
"Like any eating disorder, they are concerned with weight and shape," she said. "They're concerned with rules about what they should eat and when she should eat. They become very concerned when they eat something they think is going to make them gain weight. However, unlike women without eating disorders and unlike women with bulimia nervosa, they report feeling very, very full after eating an amount of food that other people find acceptable."
Keel said that when word first spread about her research, she got a ton of e-mail.
"A lot of the e-mails were along the lines of 'That's me' and 'Thank you for doing this work, please continue doing this work.' Also, a lot of e-mails expressing having experienced this for years of their lives, having sought help, but never really finding a treatment that seemed to fit the condition they actually had," she said.
The disorder is dangerous, said Keel. "It's associated with electrolyte imbalances that can influence heart and kidney function, dehydration. It can also cause incredible problems with dental decay."
Though there is no "cure" for the disorder, Keel said that in the future "the main thing we need to do is really start focusing on what is contributing to the propensity to purge among these women.
"Most of the research that we've done on bulimia nervosa, we understand that the immediate trigger is binge-eating episodes. Women who have purging disorder, we don't have any clues what contributes to the eating disorder."
New York, Sept. 21, 2007
Researchers in the field of eating disorders have defined a new disorder: purging disorder.
People, most of whom are women, have suffered from it for years, but doctors are just starting to recognize the disorder. University of Iowa professor Pamela Keel led a new study on it and appeared on The Early Show to explain her research.
How is purging disorder different from anorexia or bulimia? "With anorexia nervosa, it's a self-starvation syndrome so women are under weight. Whereas women with purging disorder have a normal weight. Women (with) bulimia have large eating episodes for which they compensate. Women with purging disorder are vomiting even after a small amount of food," Keel said.
And because the amounts are small, the disorder is difficult to detect. "Yes, because the outward signs of the illness are not obvious," said Keel. "They're not obviously underweight and there's no obvious problem in their eating patterns."
Who has purging disorder? We asked Keel to describe the average purger.
"Like any eating disorder, they are concerned with weight and shape," she said. "They're concerned with rules about what they should eat and when she should eat. They become very concerned when they eat something they think is going to make them gain weight. However, unlike women without eating disorders and unlike women with bulimia nervosa, they report feeling very, very full after eating an amount of food that other people find acceptable."
Keel said that when word first spread about her research, she got a ton of e-mail.
"A lot of the e-mails were along the lines of 'That's me' and 'Thank you for doing this work, please continue doing this work.' Also, a lot of e-mails expressing having experienced this for years of their lives, having sought help, but never really finding a treatment that seemed to fit the condition they actually had," she said.
The disorder is dangerous, said Keel. "It's associated with electrolyte imbalances that can influence heart and kidney function, dehydration. It can also cause incredible problems with dental decay."
Though there is no "cure" for the disorder, Keel said that in the future "the main thing we need to do is really start focusing on what is contributing to the propensity to purge among these women.
"Most of the research that we've done on bulimia nervosa, we understand that the immediate trigger is binge-eating episodes. Women who have purging disorder, we don't have any clues what contributes to the eating disorder."
