A friend from Scotland has a time-honored tradition on New Year’s Eve: opening the back door to let the Old Year out, and then opening the front door to let the New Year in. As we all leap into 2018, and start EDR’s 29th year of publication, there is much new in eating disorders to let in.
Our lead article, Finding New Ways to Define and Improve Recovery, based on presentations at the International Conference on Eating Disorders in Prague, features the work of ED professionals who are adding new elements to the definition of “Recovery.” Recovery from an eating disorder has traditionally meant the lessening and disappearance of symptoms such as below-normal body mass index and binge-purging. Now there are compelling reasons to include the patient to a far greater degree in the definition of recovery.
Other exciting progress is being made in the neurobiology underlying certain eating disorders. In this issue, How Might BED Differ From Obesity? describes how different brain regions are affected in obese patients with and without binge-eating disorder, or BED. This increased interest in how the brain affects eating disorders is reflected in the theme of iaedp’s 2018 Symposium, March 21-25 in Orlando, FL, “Focus on Neuroscience: Magic of the Mind…Language of the Body.” Preconference and conference sessions include topics such as neurobiologically based treatment for anorexia, healing the body and brain trapped in the cycle of bulimia or binge-eating, neurolinguistics programming, and better brain function through movement, among others. If you haven’t already received the iaedp Symposium program and sign-up form, you can find these online at www.iaedp.com .
—MS
