Purging Disorder

When I first saw the title of this AP article, I said to myself, "I know what this is. It's the binging and purging thing, right." Eating disorders is something I've written before on this blog. Pro-ana and pro-mia sites continues to be one of the most visited posts on this blog.

But, what I didn't realize is that the term purging disorder talks about being "compelled to purge, usually by vomiting, even after eating only a small or normal amount of food."

Apparently, purging disorder is not an officially recognized diagnosis according to the American Psychiatric Association. However, further study and research on this topic may support changing of the criteria for diagnosing eating disorders.

The dangers of purging disorder are similar to those of bulimia: psychological problems, dehydration, electrolyte imbalances that can affect the heart and kidneys, and potential dental problems because of self-induced vomiting.

Here is a pretty good link talking about eating disorders from WebMD. I didn't know that it's hard to even put a number on how many people suffer from eating disorders. Many of these are sad stories. Hopefully, more effective treatments can be developed to address this problem.