The eating disorders.

So, what is an eating disorder? In short terms it's when a person have abnormal eating habits. It often involves insufficient or excessive food intake to the detriment of the persons physical and emotional health. Most common among the eating disorders are binge eating, bulimia and anorexia.

It's known to affect more women then men. Statistics show that in the US alone 5-10 million females suffer from eating disorders, while it's only estimated that 1 million males are affected.

What causes eating disorders are still too complex and too poorly understood to determine. The consequences however is not. They are severe and can lead to an early death, whether because of direct medical effects or due to suicide.

The causes

While there is no certain causes when it comes to eating disorders, there are many theories to why they occur.

• The biological causes:
  Genetic, epigenetics, biochemical, leptin and ghrelin, immune system, infection, lesions, tumors, brain celcification, somatosensory homunculus, obsetric.

• Psychological:
  
  (Should not be used to diagnose yourself. There have been considerable controversy over the diagnostic criteria used for various diagnoses)
  
  
  Depression, substance abuse, alcoholism, anxiety disorders, obsessive compulsive disorder, attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder, obsessive compulsive personality disorder, borderline personality disorder, narcissistic personality disorder, histrionic personality disorder, avoidant personality disorder.

• Personality traits:
  There are varios childhood personality traits associated with the development of eating disorders. During adolescence these traits may become intensified due to a variety of physiological and cultural influences such as the hormonal changes associated with puberty, stress related to the approaching demands of maturity and socio-cultural influences and perceived expectations, especially in areas that concern body image.
  
  The big five personality traits (Openness, conscientiousness, extraversion, agreeableness, neuroticism), self esteem, harm avoidance, novelty seeking, perfectionism, alexithymia, rigidity, impulsivity, disinhibition, obsessionality.
  
  
• Environmental:
  Child maltreatment, social isolation, parental influence, peer pressure, cultural pressure.

Symptoms-complications

Symptoms and complications vary according to the nature and severity of the eating disorder.

Acne, xerosis, amenorrhoea, toothloss/cavities, constipation, diarrhea, water retention/edema, lanugo, telogen effluvium, cardiac arrest, hypokalemia, death, osteoporosis, electrolyte imbalance, hyponatremia, brain atrophy, pellagra, scurvy, kidney failure, suicide.

Polycystic ovary syndrome is the most common endocrine disorder to affect women.

The specific eating disorders (The following posts will contain more information on each of them)

Anorexia nervosa

Bulimia nervosa

Binge eating disorder (BED), not yet classified as a separate disorder

Rumination syndrome

Diabulimia, not currently recognized as a medical condition

Food maintenance syndrome

Female athlete triad

Eating disorder not otherwise specified (EDNOS)

Pica

Orthorexia

Night eating syndrome

Nocturnal Sleep Related Eating Disorder

Hyperphagia