Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
Pivot Concepts:   Target Concepts:
Query: UMLS:C0020505 (hyperphagia)
 6,116 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

One hundred significantly overweight patients sequentially applying to a very low calorie diet (VLCD) program were interviewed to learn how the onset of obesity correlated with other life events. By comparison with a control group of 100 always-slender adults, the obese applicants were found to be different at a highly significant level in the prevalence of childhood sexual abuse, nonsexual childhood abuse, early parental loss, parental alcoholism, chronic depression, and marital family dysfunction in their own adult lives. The obese patients commonly reported using obesity as a sexually protective device; many reported overeating to cope with emotional distress. Inquiry into depression, past sexual abuse, and past or present dysfunctional family life should be added to the current medical evaluation of all obese patients. The resultant findings are likely to be relevant to their treatment, whether for obesity or for other medical conditions.
 ...
PMID:Childhood sexual abuse, depression, and family dysfunction in adult obese patients: a case control study. 820 85

The author reviews the psychodynamics of eating disorder behaviors in women with childhood sexual abuse histories, with a focus on anorexia, bingeing, purging, and overeating. The various defenses and behaviors interact with each other through numerous different feedback loops. The same behavior can have multiple defensive functions and the same defensive function can be served by different behaviors. None of the behaviors is specific to childhood sexual abuse, but the abuse history modifies the content, heightens the intensity of the feelings being defended against, and should be taken into account in the therapy. Several examples of therapeutic strategies are also provided.
 ...
PMID:Psychodynamics of eating disorder behavior in sexual abuse survivors. 1984 87