It is vital to understand that eating disorders are medical conditions characterized by distorted eating behaviors and habits. Although, the term is not new at all, knowing about eating disorders is becoming important today because the incidence of eating disorders has increased two-fold in the past two decades. According to the reports from the “National Association of Anorexia, Nervosa, and Associated Disorders”, over thirty million people are affected by an eating disorder every year. As such, the disorder is found to be distributed among all various age groups. So, this is not a topic to be taken lightly.

Understanding the Types:

In medical terms, eating disorders are considered as mental illnesses. Moreover, eating disorders are among the deadliest and several nurses today do not know about the different types. Knowing the  different types of eating disorders is important because the identification of the type only will lead to proper care. As such, the eating disorders are of six types, which are:

Anorexia Nervosa:

This is a disorder where the person’s caloric intake is not sufficient for his/her body needs. As it’s obvious, this disorder will show visible signs of weight loss, although it is not the only problem that the person would face. When an individual’s body does not get sufficient calories, it would show signs of muscle wasting and a range of other health problems. This disorder is the result of the affected individual viewing oneself as being too heavy, irrespective of how skinny he/she would be.

Bulimia Nervosa:

This disorder is characterized by an episode of extreme/binge eating (a large amount of food), which will be followed by self-induced vomiting. The affected person may also use extreme amounts of laxatives. Often it leads to someone who cannot control the amount of food they’re eating, and also he/she usually cannot stop themselves from inducing themselves to vomit person who cannot control eating large amounts of food and also he/she cannot stop oneself from inducing vomits as he/she will feel bad about what is eaten.

Binge Eating Disorder:

This is nothing but a person with recurrent episodes of extreme eating. More often, the meals that are eaten by the affected person will be larger. The mental issue linked to this disorder is the inability to control their eating behavior. These people would tend to eat faster and subsequently, feel uncomfortable. They would mostly eat alone and feel disgusted about oneself.

Pica:

In this disorder, the affected individual will eat non-edible substances. For example, cotton, chalk, clay, and so on. He/she would eat it for a minimum of one month.

Restrictive Food Intake Disorder:

In this type of eating disorder, the person will not be able to meet his/her nutritional needs.

Night Eating Syndrome:

An individual is said to be affected with night eating syndrome if he/she is found to be taking 25% of his/her calories after the nighttime meal. An obvious sign that the person is affected is he/she will wake up to eat, after going to sleep.

Identifying Eating Disorders in Patients:

In a healthcare setting, nurses will often be the initial point of contact for patients with eating disorders. This makes it important for them to establish the foundations of recovery, more particularly, with the patients who don’t know that they have an issue. Therefore, nurses should possess the skills to identify the potential patients. These skills can be developed only when they are familiar with the clinical, psychological, as well as behavioral symptoms of these disorders. Knowing these will also help them while assisting doctors during health assessments.

More typically, the patients with eating disorders will show the following clinical presentations:

• Above/below average BMI
• Pale mucous membranes in the eyes
• Edema
• Hair loss
• Cardiac irregularities
• Dry skin
• High body temperature
• High blood pressure
• Dehydration
• Weakness
• Electrolyte imbalance

Role of Nurses in the Recovery of Patients:

As such, treatment for an eating disorder will depend on the symptoms and the affected individual. In this line, the affected person may be cared for in a primary or secondary care setting. In any case, the nurses should monitor the patient’s nutritional status as these eating disorders can be life-threatening. At the same time, they must also remember that these patients may also be getting treatment for other conditions and that the eating disorder could have a major impact on his/her overall health. It’s always important to make sure that the person’s nutrition and electrolyte balances are maintained. And, yes, of course, you should check their weight regularly.

As some nurses might be aware already, the hardest part of caring these patients is the mental aspect. In this aspect, nurses should not be judgmental when dealing with an eating disorder. Finally, nurses should be able to educate the family members of the patient about the disorder and encourage them to take part in the patient’s care by offering support.

So, the nurse’s role in dealing with eating disorders does not stop with identification and treatment, but also extends to providing psychological support as well.