Binge-eating

Anorexia nervosa (AN) and Binge-eating disorder (BED) 1. Increased blood levels of AEA in patients with AN and BED may participate in reward aspects of aberrant eating behaviours 1. None tested... 

The signs and symptoms of bulimia are similar to those of anorexia. Other signs may include binge eating and inappopri-ate use of diuretics or laxatives. Cavities or gum infections may develop, or the enamel of the teeth may show signs of being stripped off, because of the frequent exposure to stomach acid. 

Millions of people in the United States are affected by eating disorders. More than 90% of those afflicted are adolescents or young adult women. Although all eating disorders share some common manifestations, anorexia nervosa, bulimia nervosa, and binge eating each have distinctive symptoms and risks. 

According to the passage, people with binge-eating disorder are prone to all of the following EXCEPT... 

Which of the following represent up to two-thirds of the binge-eating disorder population ... 

Near the end of the last paragraph, the passage indicates that binge-eating disorder patients experience high blood pressure. 

See the second sentence of the sixth paragraph. If as many as one-third of the binge-eating disorder population are men, it stands to reason that up to two-thirds are younger women, given that we have learned that about 90% of all eating disorder sufferers are adolescent and young adult women. 

When is medication indicated in the treatment of psychiatric illness There is no short answer to this question. At one end of the continuum, patients with schizophrenia and other psychotic disorders, bipolar disorder, and severe major depressive disorder should always be considered candidates for pharmacotherapy, and neglecting to use medication, or at least discuss the use of medication with these patients, fails to adhere to the current standard of mental health care. Less severe depressive disorders, many anxiety disorders, and binge eating disorders can respond to psychotherapy and/or pharmacotherapy, and different therapies can target distinct symptom complexes in these situations. Finally, at the opposite end of the spectrum, adjustment disorders, specific phobias, or grief reactions should generally be treated with psychotherapy alone. 

Poor Timing of Neurotransmission. The activity of some brain circuits, like the secretion of certain hormones, varies at certain times of the day. Called circadian rhythms, the timing of these rhythms may be disrupted in some illnesses. Examples include sleep disorders such as insomnia and narcolepsy, as well as other conditions such as nighttime binge-eating disorder. 

The current SSRIs in the United States inclnde fluoxetine, fluvoxamine, sertraline (Zoloft), paroxetine (Paxil), citalopram (Celexa), and escitalopram (Lexapro). All effectively treat major depression. In addition, one or more of the SSRIs has been shown effective in the treatment of dysthymic disorder, the depressive phase of bipolar disorder, premenstrual dysphoric disorder, panic disorder, social phobia, obsessive-compnlsive disorder, bnlimia nervosa, and binge-eating disorder. 

Characteristic Anorexia Nervosa Bulimia Nervosa Binge-Eating Disorder... 

Despite the fact that overeating has troubled humankind for centuries, an eating disorder whose chief feature is binge eating was not formally recognized in the... 

A. Repeated binge eating characterized by both of the following ... 

C. Both binge eating and attempts to compensate for overeating occur at least twice a week for 3 months. 

Anticonvulsdnts. An early observation that BN patients may have abnormal electroencephalogram (EEG) resnlts led to specnlation that binge eating may represent an atypical behavioral presentation of seiznre activity. Thus, the first controlled medication study for the treatment of BN evaluated the use of the antiseizure medication phenytoin (Dilantin). Phenytoin was not found to be significantly superior to placebo, and the earlier reports of EEG abnormalities were not confirmed. The results of a subsequent trial of carbamazepine (Tegretol), an anticonvulsant that has been reported to be effective in the treatment of bipolar disorder, were also disappointing. As a result, anticonvulsants are not routinely used in the treatment of BN. 

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