[Binge eating disorders and obesity].
The present article reviews binge eating disorders. These comprise a set of eating behaviour alterations that are characterized by the persistent intake of large amounts of food during discrete periods of time, with moderate levels of associated psychopathology, and they are quite resistant to treatment. Of all these, binge eating or compulsive eating disorder (TA in its Spanish acronym) is the one most recently identified and, therefore, the one requiring the most additional investigation. Although between 20% and 30% of patients with TA are obese, the nature of the relationship between these two disorders is not known even today. In the same way, there are insufficient empirical data demonstrating the role of following diets in the aetiology of TA and the repercussions of restriction in the treatment of TA. For the time being, the combination of cognitive behavioural therapy and behavioural strategies for weight loss is the most effective procedure to reduce binge eating and to facilitate short-term weight loss; the addition of anti-depressive medication or appetite suppressants seems to give a moderate increase in weight loss. Finally, there is evidence that cognitive-behavioural self-help procedures without therapeutic contact or with a minimal therapeutic contact may be useful in obese patients with TA.
Saldaña García
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Departamento de Personalidad, Evaluación y Tratamiento Psicológicos, Universidad de Barcelona, España. csaldanya@psi.ub.es
D002032:Bulimia / Q000150:complications* / Q000628:therapy; D006801:Humans; D009765:Obesity / Q000150:complications* / Q000628:therapy
Trastornos por atracón y obesidad.