Nutrition intervention in the treatment of eating disorders, from bench to bed

Eating disorders are complex and multi- faceted and is very sensitive to the social and cultural pressures and their treatment challenges the doctors and the medical team. It is more than half a century that various branches of science theories about the disorder and discusses the factors that influence it. This is a common thing in all these theories that nutrition is associated with psychological problems. Today, issues such as nutrition and its relationship with the individual's attitude to the world, and future desired and may lead to problems in eating and nutrition. Patients with anorexia nervosa manifest weight loss, fear of becoming fat, and disturbances in how they experience their body weight and shape. Patients with bulimia nervosa present with recurrent episodes of binge eating and inappropriate methods of weight control such as self- induced vomiting, and abuse of diuretics and laxatives. Major complications of eating disorders include severe fluid and electrolyte disturbances and cardiac arrhythmias. Individual and family psychotherapy are effective in patients with anorexia nervosa and cognitive- behavioral therapy is effective in bulimia nervosa. Pharmacotherapy is not universally effective by itself. Nutritionist plays an important role in the management of medical and nutritional complications for patients and families, and therefore needs proper knowledge of the methods of treatment and management of complications.