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Eating Disorders definitions

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  • Body Image
    Personal thoughts, feelings, and perceptions about one's own body, which can be positive, negative, accurate, or distorted.
  • Body Dysmorphia
    Persistent, unhealthy preoccupation with perceived physical flaws, often leading to significant distress and impaired functioning.
  • Disordered Eating
    Atypical, unhealthy eating behaviors lacking a clinical diagnosis, including restrictive eating, binging, or purging.
  • Eating Disorders
    Clinically defined psychological conditions involving persistent, unhealthy eating behaviors with significant health risks.
  • Anorexia Nervosa
    A disorder marked by severe calorie restriction, self-imposed starvation, and the highest mortality rate among eating disorders.
  • Bulimia Nervosa
    A disorder involving repeated episodes of binging followed by purging behaviors such as vomiting or laxative use.
  • Binge Eating Disorder
    A condition characterized by recurrent episodes of consuming large amounts of food without subsequent purging.
  • Purging
    Compensatory behaviors, such as self-induced vomiting or laxative use, intended to prevent weight gain after binging.
  • Binging
    Consuming an unusually large quantity of food in a short period, often leading to physical discomfort.
  • Electrolyte Imbalance
    Disruption in the body's mineral levels, potentially causing dangerous effects on nerve, muscle, and heart function.
  • Osteoporosis
    Reduced bone density resulting from inadequate nutrition, increasing the risk of fractures and bone weakness.
  • Amenorrhea
    Loss of the menstrual cycle, often due to insufficient caloric intake, which can impact fertility.
  • Lanugo
    Fine, soft hair growth on the body, developed as a response to lowered body temperature from severe calorie restriction.
  • Multidisciplinary Treatment
    An approach involving medical, psychological, and nutritional care to address the complex needs of eating disorder patients.
  • Prevalence
    The proportion of a population affected by a specific disorder within a given time frame, often higher in females for eating disorders.