Well over half the people with eating disorders may not be on the best treatment because there is little or no research into their condition, a leading psychiatrist said today.

 

All the published studies have focused on anorexia nervosa and bulimia nervosa, for which there are strict diagnostic criteria. But most patients with eating disorders slip through the diagnostic net and fail to fall neatly into either group.

 

These people have a condition called ED-NOS (eating disorder – not otherwise specified) and although they may well have anorexic or bulimic symptoms, such as bingeing and vomiting, rigid dieting and a preoccupation with food, they do not quite meet the precise diagnostic criteria for either anorexia or bulimia. Identifying and treating these people is important, as these types of eating disorders often develop into anorexia or bulimia – and vice versa.

 

To close this diagnostic loophole, Professor Christopher Fairburn of Oxford University has pioneered “transdiagnostic” treatment, a form of cognitive behavioural therapy that is designed to look at and treat people with ED-NOS, as well as those with anorexia and bulimia. The treatment has been designed to deal with the mind set and behaviour that forces people to maintain low weight and dispenses with rigid diagnostic criteria. So far180 people have been recruited to the trial, which is the first study to look at a full range of eating disorders.

 

“Some people with a mixed picture are difficult to treat and have been ignored,” Professor Fairburn told delegates. “Doctors should place more focus on people who maintain a low weight. At the moment we are turning a blind eye to half our cases. These people are being treated, but the treatment would be more effective if there was more research into these types of eating disorders.”

 

For further information, please contact Liz Fox or Deborah Hart in the Communications Department.
Telephone: 020 7235 2351 Extensions. 6298 or 6127

E-mail: efox@rcpsych.ac.uk or dhart@rcpsych.ac.uk