News 17

Binge eating disorder: a review.
Binge eating disorder (BED) is a new proposed eating disorder in the DSM-IV. BED is not a formal diagnosis within the DSM-IV, but in day-to-day clinical practice the diagnosis seems to be generally accepted. People with the BED-syndrome have binge eating episodes as do subjects with bulimia nervosa, but unlike the latter they do not engage in compensatory behaviours. Although the diagnosis BED was created with the obese in mind, obesity is not a criterion.

Diet May Disrupt Menstrual Cycle
Women whose menstrual cycle is disrupted during strenuous athletic training simply might not be eating enough, a new study suggests. The study used female cynomolgus monkeys, which have a menstrual cycle similar to that of women. Researchers at Penn State University and the University of Pittsburgh found that by increasing food intake the subjects could reverse cases of exercise-induced amenorrhea.

Anorexia: From Control to Chaos
Whenever I felt like my life was out of control I turned to the one thing I could control: my food intake. I started out just skipping breakfast, but I soon began skipping breakfast and lunch. Before I knew it, I was skipping all meals. I would go to school each day, and only chew gum. But even the gum I chewed counted as food, because, after all, each stick had five calories.

Anorexia 'has genetic basis'
Anorexia nervosa may not entirely be caused by a psychological disorder, research suggests. Dutch researchers studied the DNA of 145 anorexia patients. They found that 11% of the patients shared the same genetic mutation. The finding could pave the way for the development of drugs to treat the eating disorder.

Body language
One in 20 women will suffer from an eating disorder in their lifetime. In Britain, anorexia and bulimia have reached catastrophic levels. For the first time, we go behind the scenes at the country's biggest eating-disorder clinic to find out why our daughters are starving themselves to death...

Oral health issues for women athletes.
More women are participating in sports at all levels. This article presents information for dental professionals to enhance awareness of emerging issues in women's oral health, with specific emphasis on female athletes. These issues include the prevalence, prediction, and prevention of sports-related traumatic orofacial injuries as well as fads and habits such as tongue piercing, smokeless tobacco, eating disorders, and performance-enhancing drugs.