Just caught this long article on Eating disorders on the main MSN.ca site. There are a lot of facts in this article and it is interesting that when people want to better their health sometimes they go to far and actually harm themselves by losing to much weight. I used to hate the talk of Anorexia and Bulimia being a disease thinking that it was just a way for some people to get attention but have really learned over the last few years that this is something that is a very dangerous disease with very deep rooted causes.

Eating disorders have increased in frequency as a consequence of society’s emphasis and preoccupation with thinness. Eating disorders are multi-factorial, with genetic, traumatic and nutritional causes. In North America, anorexia nervosa and bulimia nervosa are the two most important eating disorders. They predominantly affect females.

What is the difference between anorexia and bulimia?

Anorexia nervosa is a psychiatric condition where people intentionally starve themselves because of a false belief that they are fat, or for fear of becoming obese. In reality, they are almost always underweight or of normal weight when the condition starts. It is estimated that more than 90% of all those diagnosed with anorexia nervosa are female, often from middle and upper socioeconomic backgrounds. This disorder usually starts in the years between adolescence and young adulthood, with the average age at onset of 14 years. Anorexia nervosa afflicts about 1 per 100,000 in the population at large, but the rate is believed to be higher among Caucasian adolescent girls – about 1 in 200. Read the rest of this entry »

Looking to make a change and lose some weight? I have reviewed the top diet on the internet and you can go and read over 200 comments people have made about why this diet has worked well for them, as well as some of the problems.

Tags: affective disorder, alcohol abuse, American Psychiatric Association, anorexia nervosa, anxiety disorders, binge-purge syndrome, bulimia nervosa, cognitive behavioural therapy, constipation, Counselling, dangerous disease, dehydration, depression, digestive and reproductive systems, dizziness, drug abuse, Drug therapy, dysfunctional family environments, eating disorder, eating disorders, enemas, esophagitis, food, food craving, food cravings, food restriction, inflammation, low blood pressure, malnutrition, Mumps, nervous and hormonal systems, north America, obesity, obsessive compulsive disorder, olanzapine, panic disorder, parenting, Psychotherapy, runner, schizophrenia, social phobias, starvation, vomiting

Metamucil may be a good product for those that are having some kind of problem with constipation but more and more you see it marketed as a supplement instead of a short term solution to a problem.

The Resonance Partnership blog today had an article on the dark side of marketing where it seems like the makers of Metamucil are trying to get people to take the product as just what seems to be a bad thing and that is as a supplement to “clean” your insides. I would not usually be too concerned about this kind of an article but after looking at the post you can see how this may lead people to look at the new marketing plan as a shortcut to an eating disorder.

I have not covered eating disorders much in the past but this article woke me up to the fact that I should be looking at this more in the future.

Tags: constipation, eating disorder, eating disorders, short term solution