Question

Which of the following are goals of treatment for patients with eating disorders? Check all that apply.

Check All That Apply

A. Address unresolved emotional needs, such as sources of anxiety

B.Correct nutritional deficiencies, such as iron-deficiency anemia or low calcium intake

C.Address medical conditions, such as heart arrhythmias or gastrointestinal bleeding

D. Prescribe medication to induce weight gain

Answer 1

A) Yes it is important to take care of emotional needs of person with eating disorder for that he or she might need Psychological therapy

It is the most important component of eating disorder treatment. It involves seeing a psychologist or another mental health professional on a regular basis.

Therapy may last from a few months to years. It can help you to:

• Normalize your eating patterns and achieve a healthy weight
• Exchange unhealthy habits for healthy ones
• Learn how to monitor your eating and your moods
• Develop problem-solving skills
• Explore healthy ways to cope with stressful situations
• Improve your relationships
• Improve your mood

Treatment may involve a combination of different types of therapy, such as:

• Cognitive behavioral therapy. This type of psychotherapy focuses on behaviors, thoughts and feelings related to your eating disorder. After helping you gain healthy eating behaviors, it helps you learn to recognize and change distorted thoughts that lead to eating disorder behaviors.
• Family-based therapy. During this therapy, family members learn to help you restore healthy eating patterns and achieve a healthy weight until you can do it on your own. This type of therapy can be especially useful for parents learning how to help a teen with an eating disorder.
• Group cognitive behavioral therapy. This type of therapy involves meeting with a psychologist or other mental health professional along with others who are diagnosed with an eating disorder. It can help you address thoughts, feelings and behaviors related to your eating disorder, learn skills to manage symptoms, and regain healthy eating patterns.

Your psychologist or other mental health professional may ask you to do homework, such as keep a food journal to review in therapy sessions and identify. triggers that cause you to binge, purge or do other unhealthy eating behaviors.

B)

People who experience anemia lack enough healthy red blood cells to carry oxygen to body tissues. Anemia is a condition that typically causes people to feel weak, dizzy and fatigued.Having a diet that is consistently low in iron, folate and vitamin B-12 increases a person’s chance of developing anemia. Because people with anorexia usually lack sufficient amounts of nutrients to maintain a healthy body, many individuals with the disorder develop anemia.

Low calcium levels are often seen in patients with eating disorders. Calcium is a primary nutrient in the development of strong bones and teeth, the maintenance of muscle tone, control of blood pressure, cardiac function, and function of the peripheral and central nervous systems. Chronic calcium deficiency leads to osteopenia, and eventually osteoporosis. Food is the best source of calcium; treatment providers may also prescribe daily calcium supplements, particularly if osteoporosis or osteopenia are developing. In such cases, Vitamin D, necessary for absorption of calcium

Goals of nutrition education may be to:

• Work toward a healthy weight
• Understand how nutrition affects your body, including recognizing how your eating disorder causes nutrition issues and physical problems
• Practice meal planning
• Establish regular eating patterns — generally, three meals a day with regular snacks
• Take steps to avoid dieting or bingeing
• Correct health problems that are a result of malnutrition or obesity.

C)

Patients with eating disorders present with various gastrointestinal disturbances such as postprandial fullness, abdominal distention, abdominal pain, gastric distension, and early satiety, with altered esophageal motility sometimes seen in patients with anorexia nervosa. Other common conditions noted in patients with eating disorders are postprandial distress syndrome, superior mesenteric artery syndrome, irritable bowel syndrome, and functional constipation. Binge eating may cause acute gastric dilatation and gastric perforation, while self-induced vomiting can lead to dental caries, salivary gland enlargement, gastroesophageal reflux disease, and electrolyte imbalance. Laxative abuse can cause dehydration and electrolyte imbalance. Vomiting and/or laxative abuse can cause hypokalemia, which carries a risk of fatal arrhythmia. Careful assessment and intensive treatment of patients with eating disorders is needed because gastrointestinal symptoms/disorders can progress to a critical condition.

D)

Medications can't cure an eating disorder. They're most effective when combined with psychological therapy. Even weight inducing medicine will work best with proper therapy.As our primary goal with the person with eating disorder is to take care of his emotional needs.

Antidepressants are the most common medications used to treat eating disorders that involve binge-eating or purging behaviors, but depending on the situation, other medications are sometimes prescribed.

Taking an antidepressant may be especially helpful if you have bulimia or binge-eating disorder. Antidepressants can also help reduce symptoms of depression or anxiety, which frequently occur along with eating disorders.

You may also need to take medications for physical health problems caused by your eating disorder.