Tag Archives: Eating Disorders

The Reality of Sugar Addiction

You may joke about getting your daily afternoon sugar fix and about needing it to get through the rest of the day, but it isn’t particularly funny. As research keeps finding and confirming, sugar is addictive. It may not be heroin or cocaine, but it can get you hooked and it can cause major, long-term […]

Eating Disorders Get a Bump Each Spring

Disordered eating is a serious problem for many people; it comes with health risks and even the potential for death. For many who struggle with anorexia, bulimia or other eating disorders, the bad habits start out seemingly harmless, but snowball into compulsive, addictive-like, harmful behaviors. Young women are most at risk for developing an eating […]

What Dentists Can Do About Eating Disorders

Dentists may be medical professionals, but they are also specialists. Typically, patients will not turn to their dentists for help with ailments that don’t involve teeth, gums or general oral health. However, some illnesses, such as the eating disorder bulimia nervosa, affect oral health. As a result, dentists and dental hygienists may be positioned to […]

Social Media’s Potential Influence on Eating Disorders

Just when you’d grown weary of hearing about everyone’s “thigh gap” obsession, there’s a new body trend causing anxiety for young women. It’s cleverly labeled the “bikini bridge”. The term describes the look created when a woman lies down and her bikini bottoms hang suspended between her hip bones, showing off her enviably flat – […]

Now That’s Motivation: Iowa Woman Hopes to Drop 565 Pounds to Marry Man of Her Dreams

Charity Pierce, 38, has an ambitious endeavor. Weighing in at 765 pounds, Pierce, of Cedar Rapids, Iowa has the dubious distinction of being the “world’s fattest woman.” But she’s determined to lose 280 pounds so she can have gastric bypass surgery and eventually wants to get to 200 pounds. Why? She says she plans to […]

Confessions of an Eating-Disordered Brain

A personal story about disordered eating and body dysmorphia that tells the details of these dangerous illnesses and how difficult it can be to overcome them. I was 15. A group of dancers had gathered together to celebrate a monumental performance. There were pizzas, chips, cupcakes, soda—not diet. We were lithe and limber, light as […]

High Cholesterol in Anorexics

Anorexia nervosa is the classic eating disorder associated with a distorted sense of one’s own body weight and body shape, as well as a dangerous associated drop in weight levels. Doctors have known for some time that people affected by anorexia often have unusually high levels of cholesterol in their bloodstreams, even though they heavily […]

Past Weight Loss an Overlooked Factor in Disordered Eating

Researchers who study anorexia nervosa and other eating disorders commonly focus their attention on psychological aspects of these illnesses, including  one’s thought processes, belief structures and emotional changes. This focus makes sense, since these factors heavily determine the development of disordered eating behaviors. However, according to the results of a study published in August 2013 […]

Many Teens Develop First Signs of Anorexia While Obese

Anorexia nervosa is an unusually deadly mental disorder centered on a fixation with thinness and weight loss. Current guidelines allow doctors to diagnose the disorder in individuals whose body weight falls below 85 percent of expected norms. However, according to the results of a new report published in September 2013 in the American Academy of […]

Self-Help Tips for Women With Eating Disorders

While eating disorders impact both men and women, women tend to suffer from them to a much greater degree.  This may be largely due to society’s relentless pressure on females to be supermodel thin and cellulite-free.  Sadly, it’s the exception not the rule to fit such unrealistic and unhealthy standards, yet many females strive to […]

Adult ADHD Linked to Severe Eating Disorders

Adult ADHD is the general term for cases of the childhood condition attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder that continue to produce significant symptoms in adulthood. Modern studies indicate that 30 percent to 60 percent of children with ADHD also experience the adult form of the disorder. According to the results of a new study published in July […]

Childhood Eating Disorders a Growing Menace

Sadie was like most 10 year old girls—she liked swimming and soccer, horses and rainbows, and catching fireflies in the summertime. As a fourth-grade student, she was especially concerned about spelling bees and cared very much about keeping her straight-A record. She’d gotten a C once on a social studies test and her parents would […]

A New Wrinkle on Old Research

Damaging  ‘Old Talk’ Is Pervasive Among Middle-Age Women, Researchers Find The vast majority of eating disorders appear in girls and women between the ages of 9 and 26. However, doctors and researchers are beginning to understand that significant numbers of older women also cope with these disorders on a regular basis. In a study published […]

Estrogen Replacement Therapy Reduces Anxiety in Anorexics

Anorexia nervosa is an eating disorder characterized by such things as a severely distorted body image, a dysfunctional obsession with staying thin, and excessive restrictions on food and calorie intake. Teenagers and adults recovering from the disorder often experience a spike in their levels of anxiety that coincide with a healthy increase in their body […]

The Link Between Bullying and Eating Disorders

Bullying is an increasingly difficult problem in our world today. The British press is reporting that up to 65 percent of those diagnosed with an eating disorder say that bullying was a strong contributing factor. That rather astonishing figure represents a more than 40 percent increase of similar survey results from as recently as 2009. […]

Eating Disorders and Social Anxiety

Research continues to demonstrate a link between eating disorders and social anxiety disorders. According to recent studies, it is not uncommon for people with eating disorders to also experience social anxiety. While the association between conditions appears understandable, more research needs to be done in order to find out how best to recognize anxiety disorders […]

The Ranch’s Renowned Eating Disorder Expert to Address Resistance in Obesity & Binge Eating Disorder Treatment at Professional Workshop

On March 24, 2012, The Ranch’s eating disorder consultant, Dr. Carolyn Coker Ross, will host a professional workshop at the annual IAEDP Symposium exploring the five points of resistance patients commonly face in treatment for binge eating disorder and obesity.

Anorexia May Provide Sense of Belonging

Anorexia nervosa often ensnares women into a pattern of recovery and relapse, making it difficult for individuals suffering from the eating disorder to maintain healthy eating habits after completing treatment. Anorexia is the most deadly of the various types of eating disorders and has the highest mortality rate of any mental disorder, including depression and […]

Dieting Book for Children Causes Controversy

The childhood obesity problem has caused many eating disorder experts to caution parents about proper guidelines for implementing healthy changes. Instead of talking about dieting, losing weight and counting calories, say experts, the focus should be on getting more active, eating healthy and improving general well-being.