Current Issue: May/June • Vol. 35 / No. 4
BED: A New Home-based Treatment Method
A combination of brain stimulation and attitude training reduced binge eating. Researchers from the…
Read MoreDoes Extra Leisure time Promote Eating Disorders?
A study of Finnish twins bought unexpected results. Are teens with time on their hands…
Read MoreA Web-Based Program Fills in For Patients Waiting For Outpatient Treatment
Most results were encouraging. A web-based self-help program has shown promise for helping those with…
Read MoreOSFED: Better Definitions Needed
Established diagnostic criteria would help patient care and quality of life. The DSM-5 category “Other Specified Feeding or Eating Disorders (OSFED)” includes atypical anorexia nervosa (AAN), purging disorder (PD), night eating syndrome (NES), and…
Read MoreBody Image Interventions After Bariatric Surgery
Using Body-Positive Imagery on Social Media
Predicting Relapse
From Across the Desk
From Across the Desk: Finding Better Definitions and Techniques
In this issue, several articles turn to better ways to define less frequently seen eating disorders. Two examples are OSFED, or Other Specified Feeding or Eating Disorders, and ARFID, or avoidant restrictive food intake disorder.
The DSM-5 category for OSFED includes a number of subcategories, including atypical anorexia nervosa, purging disorder, night eating syndrome, and subthreshold bulimia nervosa and binge eating disorder. Researchers from the University of Melbourne and Murdoch Children’s Research Institute have drawn attention to the fact that current OSFED diagnostic criteria fall short of accurately describing these conditions, and have overlapping symptoms that can be misleading (see the article elsewhere in this issue).
Another challenge is inpatient management of younger patients with ARFID. A group in Boston developed a standardized inpatient clinical pathway to help guide use of psychiatric, psychological and social work consulting for these young patients (see "ARFID and Hospital Admittance of Children and Teens" elsewhere in this issue).
Finally, a research group in Italy has described their use of virtual reality to reduce anxiety and fear among a group of AN patients. The technique was helpful, although an unexpected drawback was the virtual reality program’s use of unpleasant avatars. Summer and innovation march on in eating disorders research.
—MKS