Eating Disorders and Nutritional Treatment
 |
| Eating Disorders and Nutritional Treatment |
Eating disorders, which are chronic diseases that require long-term treatment, are mental illnesses, even though physical symptoms seem to be in the foreground. Eating disorders, which are caused by disturbing eating behavior and thoughts and feelings about food, are often seen together with other mental illnesses such as substance abuse, depression, and anxiety disorder.
In order to understand the content of eating disorders and nutrition therapy, first of all, it is necessary to learn about the types of eating disorders. According to the parameters published by the American Psychiatric Association in 2013, there are four types of eating disorders. These are anorexia nervosa, bulimia nervosa, binge eating disorder, and unclassified eating disorders. The main features of the individual are to see himself as fat, to accompany emotional disturbances that cannot be managed in real life, to be accompanied by eating, to be afraid of being fat, to have a strong desire to lose weight, and to have physical appearance disorders.
Although it seems to affect adolescent girls and young women in general, people of all ages and genders can have eating disorders. Men's chronic eating disorders have nearly doubled in the past decade, although the incidence is still higher in women. Eating disorders lead to serious health problems, even death. It is a mental illness with a very high morbidity rate. The reasons for its formation are still unknown, but it is thought that biological and psychological causes play a role at the same time. Eating disorders are associated with problems such as depression, low self-esteem, family problems, identity confusion, and feeling worthless. It can be seen as trying to bring an external solution to the inner turmoil. Eating disorders and nutrition therapy require working very closely with patients.
 |
| Eating Disorders and Nutritional Treatment |
Anorexia Nervosa
Anorexia nervosa patients, who are dangerously underweight but continue to feel fat, see themselves above their desired weight every time they look in the mirror. They are very afraid of being fat and gaining weight. They are often critical, perfectionists but low in self-confidence. They do not admit that they have eating disorders in the early stages of the disease, but weight control has become an obsession for them. Patients develop different behaviors to lose weight, the majority of them lose weight by cutting or reducing their food intake. Some of the patients practice heavy exercises. In many cases, patients experience panic, anxiety, substance abuse, and obsessive-compulsive disorders along with anorexia nervosa.
Over time, serious health problems such as abortion due to excessive weight loss, fractures in the bones due to calcium deficiency, dryness and jaundice of the skin, excessive constipation, cardiovascular disorders occur. In order to apply eating disorders and nutrition therapy to anorexia nervosa patients, patients should receive therapy in order to distinguish and understand the thoughts, feelings and behaviors that trigger the fear of getting fat. Medication, psychotherapy and nutritional counseling have been found to be effective in the treatment of anorexia nervosa.
 |
| Eating Disorders and Nutritional Treatment |
Bulimia Nervosa
Patients with bulimia nervosa consume a lot of calories with frequent eating attacks. After that, they throw the food they eat out of the body by vomiting or with the help of laxatives and diuretics. During binge eating, patients often feel out of control. After the seizure is over, they apply one or more of their behaviors such as fasting, using laxatives or diuretics, making themselves vomit, and exercising excessively to compensate for this behavior. Because of embarrassment or disgust, bulimic patients practice these behaviors alone and secretly. Vomiting of patients after each eating attack or after each normal meal also brings medical problems.
Having a constantly red and injured throat, swelling of the face and cheeks to have a squirrel-like appearance, problems in the stomach valve due to constant vomiting and reflux, melting of tooth enamel and tooth decay due to constant contact with stomach acids, intestinal problems due to excessive use of laxatives, excessive use of laxatives. Kidney problems due to excessive use of diuretics and problems due to fluid loss are other medical problems faced by patients with bulimia nervosa.
While eating disorders and nutrition therapy are applied to patients with bulimia nervosa, patients should receive psychotherapy together with medication. Patients often do not believe they need treatment and need to be persuaded. With general nutrition education and nutrition counseling, the patient regains regular eating habits, and this treatment has proven to be quite effective on bulimia nervosa.
Binge Eating Disorder
The first part of this disease is with bulimia nervosa is quite similar. Patients consume a lot of calories with frequent eating attacks and feel out of control during these attacks. Unlike bulimia nervosa, patients with binge eating disorder do not resort to behaviors such as making themselves vomit, starving, exercising excessively, or using laxatives to compensate for this behavior. Embarrassment, self-disgust, guilt and distress caused by overeating lead to the same cycle again. As a result, patients with binge eating disorder have a slightly above or very above normal weight, and they also have obesity. These patients are particularly at risk of cardiovascular diseases and high blood pressure.
 |
| Eating Disorders and Nutritional Treatment |
Treatment of Eating Disorders
Eating disorders and nutritional therapy begin under the leadership of psychiatrists. In most eating disorders, patients do not accept that they are sick, and this affects the administration of treatments and the response to treatment. Therefore, patients need to be convinced of treatment. In eating disorders, which have serious consequences that can lead to death even if there are mental illnesses, drug treatment, which starts under the leadership of psychiatrists, is carried out in cooperation with other medical branches such as obstetrics, cardiology, internal diseases. A single treatment approach does not benefit the patient, all patients are different from each other, so the treatment should be tailored to the patient. There is no definitive drug treatment for eating disorders, drugs are more helpful and are used to treat physical symptoms. Medication should be administered in conjunction with psychotherapy. Eating disorders and nutrition therapy require psychotherapy. Psychotherapy is indispensable in the treatment of eating disorders, it plays a great role in the correct participation of the patients' families in therapy, the cooperation of the families and support of the patient are of great importance in the treatment.
Some extreme cases of eating disorder require hospitalization. Hospitalization is the most appropriate form of treatment for the patient in cases such as rapid and excessive weight loss, inability to stop vomiting, the presence of most of the above-mentioned medical problems, and the failure of previous treatments that were not hospitalized. If medical problems and weight loss are very high, the patient's admission is first made in the internal diseases clinic with the observation and follow-up of psychiatrists. After the patient's medical condition improves, he is referred to the psychiatry clinic.
In order for the inpatient treatment to end, the patient should learn healthy eating habits again, approach a healthy weight, medical problems should disappear, and vomiting and laxative use should be controlled. After these criteria are met, outpatient treatment can be continued with the patient again. It is difficult to predict the duration of inpatient treatment during eating disorders and nutrition therapy, such treatments constitute only a small part of the actual treatment. Continuing outpatient treatment is the big part. During outpatient treatment, the patient should be constantly monitored for a long time and ensured that he does not return to his old unhealthy habits. Individual or group psychotherapies continue throughout the process.