Disturbi dell'alimentazione
Nervous Anorexia, Nervous Bulimia and uncontrolled eating
Eating disorders are complex pathologies, generally associated with serious psychological discomfort, characterised by a distorted relationship with food, excessive concern for one's physical shape and altered perception of one's body image.
The eating disorders are Anorexia Nervosa, Bulimia Nervous and Binge Eating Disorder.
Anorexia Nervous
L'Anorexia Nervous is characterised by a distorted perception of the body image, by resorting to drastic diets, aimed at maintaining or increasing the state of thinness.
Signs and symptoms
The most frequent signs that should lead to suspect the presence of AN are:
• skipping meals, eating very little, or completely avoiding fatty foods
• obsessively counting the calories of food
• getting up immediately from the table to throw up
See the full list of symptoms
Complications
If not treated promptly, it can cause the risk of permanent damage to various organs up until death, in the most severe cases.
See the types of complications due to Anorexia Nervous
Bulimia nervous
There Bulimia Nervous is a serious eating disorder characterised by the compulsive desire to ingest excessive amounts of food, followed by attempts to eliminate what has been ingested to avoid weight gain.
Signs and symptoms
The most frequent signs that should lead to suspect the presence of Bulimia Nervous are:
• frequent binges
• frequent visits to the bathroom after lunch
• use of laxatives and / or diuretics
See the full list of symptoms
Complications
If not treated promptly, it can cause the risk of permanent damage to various organs up until death, in the most severe cases.
See the types of complications due to Bulimia Nervous
Binge eating disorder
The Binge eating disorder also known as Binge Eating Disorder (BED) it is characterized by the uncontrolled impulse to swallow excessive quantities of food, but unlike bulimia nervosa it is not followed by behaviors aimed at avoiding weight gain (for example self-induced vomiting).
Signs and symptoms
There are several signs that indicate the presence of a Binge eating disorder such as:
• Eating much faster than normal
• Eating until feeling uncomfortably full
• Eating large amounts of food despite not being physically hungry
• Eating alone because of feeling embarrassed due to the amount of food eaten
• Feeling disgusted with oneself, depressed or very guilty after the binge
Complications
The main consequence of the disease is weight gain which, in some cases, can lead to obesityobesity and increase the risk of developing alterations and associated diseases such as, for example:
• high levels of cholesterol (hypercholesterolemia) and high blood pressure (hypertension), factors that increase the risk of cerebro-cardiovascular diseases such as stroke and heart attack
• diabetes, a chronic disease which causes an increase in blood glucose levels
• osteoarthritis, a disease that causes pain and swelling in the joints
• some types of cancer, such as breast and bowel cancer
Ask for help
If you think you may have an eating disorder or if you suspect that a person you know suffers from an eating disorder, do not hesitate to ask for help and do it as soon as possible.
Call the Eating Disorders freephone number – 800.180.969.
Provided by the NHS
The National Health Service (SSN – Servizio Sanitario Nazionale) offers some healthcare services for people with eating disorders free of charge, without paying any co-pay fee (“ticket”).
To find out which benefits you could obtain, visit the page on exemptions
Therapeutic treatment
The treatment of eating disorders can be carried out, depending on the need, in a more or a less intensive way.
The first access to the therapeutic path is the outpatient treatment, while in severe cases or in those in which the outpatient treatment has not worked, a more intensive treatment is required, such as day-hospital treatment, hospitalisation and residential treatment.
See also
— the Anorexia Nervosa page in the ISS Dictionary of Health
— Binge Eating Disorder in the ISS Dictionary of Health
Find the facility
In this section, you can search for the healthcare centres dedicated to the treatment of Eating disorders on the national territory, which you can contact to receive an answer to your health need.
You can search throughout the whole national territory or limit the search to a specific territorial area (Region, Province, Municipality, ASL - Local Health Unit). Furthermore, in the search results, you can also filter the list of healthcare centres based on the type of treatment of interest: outpatient, day hospital, hospitalisation and residential rehabilitation.
The methods for accessing services dedicated to Eating Disorders vary from Region to Region and, in some cases, from ASL (Local Health Unit) to ASL.
Eating disorders are complex pathologies, generally associated with serious psychological discomfort, characterised by a distorted relationship with food, excessive concern for one's physical shape and altered perception of one's body image.
The eating disorders are Anorexia Nervosa, Bulimia Nervous and Binge Eating Disorder.
Anorexia Nervous
L'Anorexia Nervous is characterised by a distorted perception of the body image, by resorting to drastic diets, aimed at maintaining or increasing the state of thinness.
Signs and symptoms
The most frequent signs that should lead to suspect the presence of AN are:
• skipping meals, eating very little, or completely avoiding fatty foods
• obsessively counting the calories of food
• getting up immediately from the table to throw up
See the full list of symptoms
Complications
If not treated promptly, it can cause the risk of permanent damage to various organs up until death, in the most severe cases.
See the types of complications due to Anorexia Nervous
Bulimia nervous
There Bulimia Nervous is a serious eating disorder characterised by the compulsive desire to ingest excessive amounts of food, followed by attempts to eliminate what has been ingested to avoid weight gain.
Signs and symptoms
The most frequent signs that should lead to suspect the presence of Bulimia Nervous are:
• frequent binges
• frequent visits to the bathroom after lunch
• use of laxatives and / or diuretics
See the full list of symptoms
Complications
If not treated promptly, it can cause the risk of permanent damage to various organs up until death, in the most severe cases.
See the types of complications due to Bulimia Nervous
Binge eating disorder
The Binge eating disorder also known as Binge Eating Disorder (BED) it is characterized by the uncontrolled impulse to swallow excessive quantities of food, but unlike bulimia nervosa it is not followed by behaviors aimed at avoiding weight gain (for example self-induced vomiting).
Signs and symptoms
There are several signs that indicate the presence of a Binge eating disorder such as:
• Eating much faster than normal
• Eating until feeling uncomfortably full
• Eating large amounts of food despite not being physically hungry
• Eating alone because of feeling embarrassed due to the amount of food eaten
• Feeling disgusted with oneself, depressed or very guilty after the binge
Complications
The main consequence of the disease is weight gain which, in some cases, can lead to obesityobesity and increase the risk of developing alterations and associated diseases such as, for example:
• high levels of cholesterol (hypercholesterolemia) and high blood pressure (hypertension), factors that increase the risk of cerebro-cardiovascular diseases such as stroke and heart attack
• diabetes, a chronic disease which causes an increase in blood glucose levels
• osteoarthritis, a disease that causes pain and swelling in the joints
• some types of cancer, such as breast and bowel cancer
Ask for help
If you think you may have an eating disorder or if you suspect that a person you know suffers from an eating disorder, do not hesitate to ask for help and do it as soon as possible.
Call the Eating Disorders freephone number – 800.180.969.
Provided by the NHS
The National Health Service (SSN – Servizio Sanitario Nazionale) offers some healthcare services for people with eating disorders free of charge, without paying any co-pay fee (“ticket”).
To find out which benefits you could obtain, visit the page on exemptions
Therapeutic treatment
The treatment of eating disorders can be carried out, depending on the need, in a more or a less intensive way.
The first access to the therapeutic path is the outpatient treatment, while in severe cases or in those in which the outpatient treatment has not worked, a more intensive treatment is required, such as day-hospital treatment, hospitalisation and residential treatment.
See also
— the Anorexia Nervosa page in the ISS Dictionary of Health
— Binge Eating Disorder in the ISS Dictionary of Health
Find the facility
In this section, you can search for the healthcare centres dedicated to the treatment of Eating disorders on the national territory, which you can contact to receive an answer to your health need.
You can search throughout the whole national territory or limit the search to a specific territorial area (Region, Province, Municipality, ASL - Local Health Unit). Furthermore, in the search results, you can also filter the list of healthcare centres based on the type of treatment of interest: outpatient, day hospital, hospitalisation and residential rehabilitation.
The methods for accessing services dedicated to Eating Disorders vary from Region to Region and, in some cases, from ASL (Local Health Unit) to ASL.
