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Eating Disorder, as it sounds does not mean a person having problem with his food. In fact Eating disorders are not a sign that a person has a problem with food, rather eating disorders are actually only the symptoms of underlying problems in that person's life. Eating disorders can be of varied types ranging from anorexia nervosa in which a person starves himself or herself to dangerous levels in order not to gain even a slight weight to binge eating disorder, in which a person gorges huge quantities of food say within two hours which otherwise is difficult to believe.
People who binge eat find food as a legitimate outlet to release their pent up emotions. Any emotional problem is an excuse for overeating for these people. Unlike the other kind of eating disorder bulimia nervosa where a person first overeats and then vomits and gets rid of unwanted calories, in binge eating disorder a person just overeats and does not worry of the extra calories that has been taken in. Binge eating disorder is characterized by consuming large quantities of food in a very short period of time until the individual is uncomfortably full. In fact during this disorder a person just loses his will power and at times can eat unbelievably huge quantities of food. There is another eating disorder known as compulsive eating disorder .
Compulsive eating disorder is characterized by compulsive eating and a consequent weight gain. Compulsive overeaters use food as a way to cope with stress, emotional conflicts and daily problems. Due to this eating habit individuals often end up being highly overweight or obese. People with these kinds of eating disorder when become overweight or obese develop several other health hazards like heart problems, high blood pressure or hypertension, mobility problems due to being overweight.
Researchers have found that there are neuro-psychiatric mechanisms which work to make a person obese or suffer from some eating disorder. The role of dopamine, a brain chemical was studied which is responsible for food reward and eating disorder. It has been found that the activity of this brain chemical dopamine decreases in the brains of the obese people. Since dopamine is a major brain chemical which transmits signals of well being and reward, it has been speculated that an under stimulated reward system may be a contributing factor in obesity.
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