Health: Can Eating Disorders Be Cured? ; Treatments for Anorexia and Bulimia May Have Little or No Effect, Suggests a New Report. but Where Does That Leave Millions of Sufferers? Sophie Petit-Zeman Weighs the Arguments

Petit-Zeman, Sophie, The Independent (London, England)

A report in the medical journal The Lancet last month has sparked debate among those treating eating disorders such as anorexia and bulimia. It claims that there is no evidence that proves the benefits of current treatments: patients fare equally well, or indeed badly, with or without them.

An estimated 1.1 million people in Britain have an eating disorder, most commonly anorexia or bulimia. Characterised by a desperation to be thin, people with anorexia restrict food intake while their bodies waste away. Those with bulimia may maintain normal weight, but have distressing cycles of starving, bingeing and purging. In both conditions, problems often begin in adolescence …

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Publication information: Article title: Health: Can Eating Disorders Be Cured? ; Treatments for Anorexia and Bulimia May Have Little or No Effect, Suggests a New Report. but Where Does That Leave Millions of Sufferers? Sophie Petit-Zeman Weighs the Arguments. Contributors: Petit-Zeman, Sophie - Author. Newspaper title: The Independent (London, England). Publication date: May 1, 2001. Page number: 8. © 2009 The Independent - London. Provided by ProQuest LLC. All Rights Reserved.

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