Centre of Excellence for Eating Disorders Tübingen (KOMET)

365

Address: Osianderstr. 5
72076 Tübingen


Phone number: +49 7071 29-86719


Fax number: 07071 29-4541


E-mail address: komet@​med.​uni-​tuebingen.​de


Anorexia

Anorexia nervosa or anorexia often begins with a harmless-seeming dietary behavior, such as omitting sweets, a vegetarian diet or reducing the amount of food eaten. Sufferers try hard to control their eating behaviour and continue to lose weight. However, they experience themselves as too fat and live in constant fear of gaining weight or losing control over their eating behaviour. In anorexia, the body weight is so low that it can lead to physical danger or even life-threatening conditions.

Bulimia

Sufferers of bulimia nervosa or bulimia, like anorexic patients, are afraid of gaining weight. They suffer from binge eating, where they can no longer control how much food they eat. To prevent weight gain, they try to get rid of the food they have eaten, for example by inducing vomiting, going hungry or taking laxatives. Many significantly restrict their food intake outside of binge eating episodes, which promotes the occurrence of cravings and can thus lead to a vicious circle.

Binge Eating Disorder

People with binge eating disorder have recurring binge eating episodes where they cannot control what and how much they eat. The English word "binge" means "binge" or "orgy" and refers to a binge eating episode. Unlike bulimia, however, sufferers do not take regular steps to control weight gain and are therefore usually overweight or obese. The binge eating is accompanied by increased figure and weight concerns, depression and anxiety. Often the disorder leads to a reduced quality of life, not least because of the excess weight. While anorexia nervosa and bulimia nervosa occur predominantly in girls and young women, both sexes are affected almost equally in binge-eating disorder.

Certificates and Associations

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