It's Time To Mount A Full Offensive Against Eating Disorders
At only 4 years old, I worried that I was fat. Over time, these worries became a life-threatening eating disorder. I was so sick that I turned down an acceptance to medical school after college graduation. I was diagnosed with osteoporosis at 22, and I am one of the lucky ones; I got help.
While my health insurance benefits were slim to none for anorexia and bulimia, my parents helped me to cover the cost of my treatment, which can run in the tens of thousands of dollars. With treatment, I fully recovered and live a normal, happy life today. I did not realize just how lucky I was until I began writing and speaking publicly about recovery — until the e-mails floated into my inbox. As many as 10 million women and 1 million men in the U.S. battle anorexia and bulimia. Millions more struggle with binge-eating disorder. I hear from them daily.I hear stories from people who do not have insurance coverage or the personal resources to pay for appropriate and much-needed treatment. This is an outrage. My friend, Kathy, lost her battle to anorexia last year at age 41. She fought for years to overcome her illness but never received the continuum of quality care that she needed due to the high financial costs that, tragically, cost her life. Without help, many people struggle for years and, if they do survive, they end up with serious long-term health consequences.
Read in full here.
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Anorexia Clinics Needed In Australia
The Auckland District Health Board has traditionally sent girls suffering from anorexia to Australia for acute treatment, but the Furse family are calling for the ADHB to invest in a clinic for New Zealand.
The Furse family has finally been reunited in their Auckland home, after four and a half months of separation.
Millie Furse and her mum, Michelle, have been living in Sydney while the 17-year-old underwent treatment for anorexia.
18-year-old Hannah Furse has been looking after the house as well as caring for 13-year-old younger sister Laura.
Michelle says everyone in the family has had to make sacrifices for Millie’s treatment.
“Hannah also, she's just finished school, and she was going to go to Teacher's College this year but she hasn't been able to - she's had to stay home and look after Laura.”
Read in full here.-------------------------------------------------
The Art Of Slimming Under Pressure
When it comes to the perfect body obsession, eating disorders become the answer to many.
I am 5 feet 7 inches and 135 pounds. I’d rather have Cheetos than carrots, I can’t eat dinner without dessert and just the thought of going to the gym makes me tired.
I’ll be the first to admit my body looks nothing like the stick-thin glamour girls gleaming on magazine covers, strutting down runways and capturing daily headlines.
Like a lot of people — young, old, female and male — I’ve struggled with my weight and body image all my life. Never skinny or fat, I always seem to fall somewhere in the middle.
Rather than accept the fact I may never fit into a size two, I constantly find myself trying.
I scarf down salads with non-fat dressing when I’d rather have a burger, I order frozen yogurt instead of ice cream and I gasp for breath four times a week as I attempt a twenty-minute jog of death on the treadmill.
No matter how many times I hear “You’re fine just the way you are,” I still find myself standing in the mirror, pinching every ounce of fat I could stand to lose and imagining what I would look like if every bone protruded from my body like those of the sucked-up celebrities on TV.
Am I pointing the finger at the media? Well, if the jeans fit.
The simple fact is we compare ourselves to those considered beautiful.Read in full here.
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Eating Disorder Sufferers To Get New Scots Unit
SCOTS suffering from eating disorders are to be treated at the country’s first ever dedicated unit. Anorexia and bulimia patients across the country are to be housed at the specialist ward at St John’s Hospital, Livingston under new plans revealed yesterday. Scots sports stars David Coulthard, Chris Boardman and Craig MacLean are among the country’s high-profile sufferers of the sometimes fatal condition, And one mother, who has been campaigning for the new facilities for the past five years, has claimed if the centre existed before her daughter “would be alive today”.Read in full here.
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New Program To Address Body Image
With so much pressure the media and society to be the perfect size, many college women and men have started bashing their bodies and becoming obsessed with food, weight, and exercise. Many of these behaviors have led to eating disorders.
Dr. Kerry Luke, staff psychologist at the counseling center at UA, has created a program, called Body Acceptance and Self Kindness, designed to prevent the onset of eating disorders and discuss issues surrounding food, weight and body image.
“I created B.A.S.K. because the prevalence for anorexia and bulimia are so high,” said Luke. “This group is important because these disorders are the most lethal when it comes to psychological disorders.”
While the program is relatively new, Luke has an idea of where she wants the program to go. Eight to 10 college students would be picked based on a screening process that would evaluate where they stand in regards to body image. The students selected would then meet on a regular basis to talk about body image, body issues, and ideals of beauty.
Read in full here.-------------------------------------------------
Are You At Risk For Osteoporosis?
Osteoporosis can strike at any age, but it is most common in older women. In fact, 80 percent of Americans with osteoporosis are women. One in every two women over age 50 will break a bone in her lifetime due to osteoporosis. Men fare somewhat better, with one in every four men over age 50 suffering an osteoporosis-related fracture.
The bottom line: Both men and women should take steps to maintain and improve bone health. And there’s no better time than May —National Osteoporosis Awareness and Prevention Month — to deliver this message.
The risk factors
A number of factors can increase your risk of bone loss and osteoporosis.
Read in full here.
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Eating Disorder Bill Gets House Committee Hearing
JEFFERSON CITY — Supporters of a bill that would require insurance coverage of eating disorders have accomplished their goal for the session: a committee hearing in both chambers. The House Special Committee on Health Insurance devoted 35 minutes to the bill today, most of which involved emotional testimony from those most affected by eating disorders. John Culp, whose daughter died of an eating disorder last week, invited those opposed to the bill to her funeral. “There is nothing worse in the world than to lose a son or daughter,” he said.
“Put away your damn parties and do something for Missourians,” he said later.
Dr. Kim McCallum, who runs a treatment center for eating disorders in St. Louis, said she’s had many patients who had to leave before they were well. One patient. McCallum said, told her it was like being pulled off a respirator before she could breathe.
And Rebecca Lester, a medical anthropologist who studies eating disorders at Washington University, said this sort of treatment is crucial.
“Relapse is inevitable if the patients don’t get the care they need,” she said.
Brook Balentine, 30, got help for her eating disorder in 2007. She said after two weeks of treatment, her insurance company determined she had reached a healthy weight, and ended treatment. “My mental state regarding this disorder was far from healthy,” she said. Balentine continued treatment anyway.
Read in full here.
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