The Encyclopedia of Obesity and Eating Disorders (The Facts on File Library of Health and Living Series) - Hardcover

What should be the simple act of ingesting food by human beings can go terribly wrong. Many of us eat entirely too much of it. Some of us deprive ourselves of it. Still others use it to replace vital needs in our lives, and so on. To over- or underfuel our bodies can result in a host of maladies, disabilities, even death. And we care. A lot. We care to the tune of the hundreds of millions of dollars spent every year on prescriptions, exercise equipment, medical procedures and hospital stays, magazines, and books. First published in 1994, this new edition of The Encyclopedia of Obe sity and Eating Disorders^B is intended to provide accurate, concise information concerning eating behaviors in a user-friendly format. Entries are organized alphabetically, and many include cross-references and lists of sources. Some are as short as one line, while others are as long as five or more pages. Changes from the previous edition include entries on fen-phen, lipase inhibitors, and the recently recognized binge-eating disorder; new dietary guidelines; and more current resources added to the bibliography, although the majority of the references are still from the 1980s. Confused or curious consumers will find information ranging from Behavior therapy to Gastric restriction procedures and from Diuretic abuse to Zinc deficiency . Although most of the content is contemporary, a history, of sorts, is offered, revealing a mosaic of eating-disorder symptoms, diagnoses, and treatments through a period spanning several hundred years. An example of one of the earliest references is found in Fasting , which includes mention of St. Catherine of Siena, who lived in the mid-fourteenth century. Professionals will appreciate the many references to the Diag nostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-IV). Their patients and clients will welcome the accessible language used by the authors to define and describe highly complex terms. The book is also very browsable, with newsy tidbits such as John Lennon's private battle with anorexia, the research that seems to indicate that listening to slow music may actually reduce one's appetite, and the fascinating relationship of bulimia to kleptomania.Among the book's several appendixes are a formal chronology that begins in 1873 with Sir William Gull's description of apepsia hysterica (now known as anorexia nervosa) and ends in 1998. Other appendixes include a brief list of obesity and eating-disorder centers and weight-reduction camps for children, a bibliography, and several tables, including "DSM-IV Criteria for Diagnosing Anorexia Nervosa, Bulimia Nervosa, and Binge-Eating Disorder."Certainly topical, this encyclopedia will be most welcome in both the young adult and adult departments of public libraries of any size, community college and undergraduate libraries, and high-school libraries. It would also be a valuable tool in those compact reference areas to which the public has access, such as library bookmobiles, hospital and medical-center libraries, and counseling and psychotherapy offices. RBB
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