Research Defines New Eating Disorder

Doctors Beginning To Recognize Purging, Which Differs From Anorexia, Bulimia

(CBS)  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."

[alb2582]

j260178948,

The idea of society putting pressure on women to be thin has been grossly over-estimated as the cause for eating disorders. While some women fall victim to that ''Hollywood Ideal,'' many of them have other reasons as the root cause(s) of their eating disorders. I''m not saying it''s not a symptom for some, but the majority of women you talk to, who have eating disorders, will tell you that they are not starving themselves, or throwing up everything they eat, because they want to look like someone in Hollywood. They will probably tell you it''s some sort of control mechanism (which you mentioned), or a way to deal with negative emotions.

I get on the defensive when people blame the media for eating disorders. (Not necessarily saying you were blaming the media.) There are other causes. The pressure to look like Nicole Richie, Lindsey Lohan, Mary-Kate Olsen, etc. did not contribute to the eating disorder. It couldn''t be farther from the cause.

As for the article, I found it very interesting.

[sherlocktoo]

Hey Bornin59 and maybe others -- maybe this is not an eating disorder but a metabolic disorder. Do you have other symptoms? Headaches, brain fog, clumbsiness, moodiness, or anger swings? There are metabolic disorders that may cause you to want to vomit. Some people can''t tolerate too much protein, sugar or fats. Atkins diets can kill some people (like myself). Try flour, soy, milk, butter, etc. The protein may make them ill and throw up anytime they eat more than the body can tolerate. So keep a food, well-being and activity diary--gain control and look for common factors. Then the doctors have something to work with to help you.

[j260178948]

I find it sad that those individuals who purge are labelled as having a disorder, instead of recognizing that society''s idealization of the thin body and the paralyzing fear of becoming overweight are at the heart of what is really dysfunctional. It is also compelling to note that while some men are affected, it is overwhelmingly women who are suffering from these ''disorders'' in order to obtain a sense of power and control. Because so many believe the only real power over men they have is through the sexualization of their bodies, it is time to stop telling individual women to embrace their bodies and instead as a society provide women with more opportunities to gain power than through *** and their bodies.

[bornin59]

I can''t believe that this disorder has not been identified earlier. My doctor insisted that I am a bulimic just this week, he would not accept my rejecting his diagnosis. The fact that a person does not binge prior to purging ment nothing to him. In fact, he pretty much fired me as a patient because I would not accept bulimia as a label/diagnosis.