Orthorexia: An Obsession With Health Food
The New York Times last night posted a story about orthorexia, a sort of eating disorder in children whose parents have been strict about what they’re allowed to eat.
While scarcely any expert would criticize parents for paying attention to children’s diets, many doctors, dietitians and eating disorder specialists worry that some parents are becoming overzealous, even obsessive, in efforts to engender good eating habits in children. With the best of intentions, these parents may be creating an unhealthy aura around food.
“We’re seeing a lot of anxiety in these kids,” said Cynthia Bulik, the director of the eating disorders program at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. “They go to birthday parties, and if it’s not a granola cake they feel like they can’t eat it. The culture has led both them and their parents to take the public health messages to an extreme.”
Tiffany Rush-Wilson, an eating disorder counselor in Pepper Pike, Ohio, has seen the same thing. “I have lots of children or adolescent clients or young adults who complain about how their parents micromanage their eating based on their own health standards and beliefs,” she said. “The kids’ eating became very restrictive, and that’s how they came to me.”
This kind of problem includes a dramatic increase in kids who won’t eat certain foods because they believe them to contain pesticides. The Times profiles one woman whose obsession with health food turned deadly:
But whatever the behavior is called, those who have lived through a disorder fueled by an obsession with healthful eating say that the experience can be agonizing. Kristie Rutzel, a 26-year-old marketing coordinator in Richmond, Va., began eliminating carbohydrates, meats, refined sugars and processed foods from her diet at 18. She became so fixated on eating only “pure” foods, she said, that she slashed her daily calorie intake to 500. Eventually, her weight fell to 68 pounds and she was repeatedly hospitalized for anorexia.
Today Ms. Rutzel, who said she is normal weight, often talks to young girls in schools and churches about the perils of becoming health-food obsessed.
When I think about childhood food, I have such lovely memories — hoagies, Whopper Juniors, Big Macs, Yankee Doodle cupcakes, you name it. I guess this is one disease I’ll never have to worry about.
liz | 11:24 AM | eating disorders
Cute Fix: Farm Animals
Becca (who doesn’t post here very much anyway) mentioned yesterday that I never do Cute Fixes with farm animals. So true! So she sent me cute cows, and I’m posting this cute pig I’m in love with.
Kingsford Goes to the Beach – video powered by Metacafe
liz | 11:07 AM | cute fix
Better Him Than Me (the Marathon, I Mean)
Okay, everyone, time to pony up for a good cause: Jason Thompson is running a marathon to raise money for San Francisco Suicide Prevention (SFSP). As a former sufferer of major depression, Jason knows all about SFSP. He called America’s oldest crisis line four to five years ago when he needed help; now he counsels others who are coping with depression, loss, schizophrenia, relationship problems, addiction, terminal illness, etc. He says:
This is a tough time to think about giving to charity. But it’s precisely because the economic downturn is creating even greater challenges for people struggling with serious mental illness that SFSP’s work is so critical. … The organization provides 24/7 free telephone crisis counseling from trained volunteers. … Your dollars will play a vital role in supporting the basic operational costs that SFSP has to cover to keep the lines running for people in crisis.
To donate, click here.
liz | 3:46 PM | suicide
Joaquin, Are You Okay?
Everyone seems to think Joaquin Phoenix’s recent bizarre behavior is an act, a publicity stunt that’s part of a documentary being filmed by Casey Affleck, his brother-in-law.
But I’m not so sure it’s a hoax. According to James Gray in People magazine:
But the director, who has cast Phoenix in three of his films, embraces the intensity. “For all the [craziness] that you deal with – the rapping and the look of him now – I work with him because he has very deep reservoirs of emotion, and he’s a serious person, believe it or not ”
On the Lovers set, “I would get to work at 6 a.m. and his call time would be 9, and he would be [there] in tears. And I’d say, ‘What are you doing? Is everything all right?’ He’d say, ‘I’m getting ready for the day.’ ”
Adds Gray: “He’s been doing it for 30 years. I think he ran out of juice. I just think he’s exhausted.”
Something seems off there. Other clues have me worried about him. From The Independent:
Indeed, having been nominated for two Oscars playing emotionally fragile public figures – the incestuous Roman emperor’s son Commodus in Gladiator, and Johnny Cash in Walk the Line – Phoenix’s recent behaviour suggests he may be losing contact with his own marbles.
The previously stylish 34-year-old has ballooned in weight, say fans, and begun dressing like a native of Skid Row. He is rarely seen out without sunglasses, and has cultivated his beard to the extent that one supermarket magazine recently compared him to “Jim Morrison’s ghost”.
Phoenix has always been prone to eccentricity (he once famously asked a red-carpet journalist: “Do I have a large frog in my hair? Something’s crawling out of my scalp.”) But it has been almost a year now since fans have seen him conducting what one might call a normal conversation.
It’s a particularly worrying fact given his previous personal struggles – he endured a spell in rehab for alcohol addiction in 2005. Tom O’Neill, who writes the Envelope website for the Los Angeles Times, noted yesterday that he had appeared “quite out of it” on the red carpet recently.
“It’s entirely possible that this latest ‘hoax’ line is being floated by Phoenix’s close pals, trying to give a rational explanation for the latest bizarre antics of a wacky celebrity,” O’Neill said.
The manner in which Phoenix announced his retirement from acting also raised eyebrows.
It happened in October, when he appeared at a theatre to perform in a charity fundraiser looking dishevelled, slurring his words, and fidgeting nervously.
Here he falls off the stage after a hip-hop performance. Everyone seemed to think this was planned too.
Given that his behavior might not be a hoax, I thought it was really uncool of Ben Stiller to make fun of him at the Oscars:
Maybe Stiller has some inside dope on this whole thing, but if not, I’m disappointed. I’ll have more on this story as it develops.
liz | 11:13 AM | celebrities
Murder in the First Degree
Remember Rebecca Riley? Susan does, which is why she sent me a link to the newest update on the trial of Riley’s parents. Some people don’t realize that the appeals process won’t work in their favor. You might not remember the case, so let Fox News refresh you:
BOSTON — Parents accused of drugging to death their 4-year-old daughter with an overdose of prescription medication should be tried for first-degree murder, not less-severe charges, the Massachusetts Appeals Court ruled Monday.
In a decision that outlined horrific allegations of neglect and intentional drugging, the appeals court said there was enough evidence to find probable cause that Carolyn and Michael Riley “murdered Rebecca with deliberate premeditation and with extreme atrocity or cruelty.”
The decision overturned the ruling of a lower court judge, who reduced the charges to second-degree murder after finding there was no evidence of premeditation.
The Rileys say they were following the orders of Rebecca’s psychiatrist, who had diagnosed the girl with bipolar disorder and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. But prosecutors say the couple kept Rebecca and two older siblings loaded with psychiatric drugs to keep them quiet and to collect Social Security disability payments.
Rebecca Riley was found dead on the floor of her parents’ bedroom on Dec. 13, 2006.
A state medical examiner determined that Rebecca died of a lethal combination of prescription drugs. The case reignited a long-running debate within the psychiatric community about whether young children can accurately be diagnosed with bipolar disorder and whether they should be given powerful psychiatric drugs.
The appeals court called the evidence against the Rileys presented to the grand jury “disturbing and graphic.”
“Michael, who was abusive, preferred his car to the children,” the court said.
The seven-page ruling also outlined evidence that Michael Riley directed his wife to give the children Clonidine, a blood pressure medication sometimes prescribed for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, “to quiet them down and make them ‘pass out”‘
“Whenever they began to annoy him, he told Carolyn to shut them up with Clonidine — telling her to ‘give them their pills’ and ‘give them their meds’,” the appeals court wrote.
The defense maintains that Rebecca died of pneumonia.
Carolyn Riley’s lawyer, Michael Bourbeau, said he was disappointed with the appeals court decision, but will not appeal the ruling to the state’s highest court.
Yeah. Good idea.
Read the Boston.com story here.
Depression Confession: Bar Rafeali
Okay, okay — you got me. She’s not really depressed. I mean, why would she be? She’s fabulously gorgeous, on the cover of Sports Illustrated, dating Leonardo DiCaprio (though he’s not my favorite; see my comments here if you scroll down), and now she’s going to be in a Hollywood movie. She is, however, playing someone who’s depressed. Here’s the article from the Indian site Sify.com:
Bar Refaeli to make film debut as psychiatric patient
Israeli model Bar Refaeli has been very much in the news after posing for the cover of Sports Illustrated Swimsuit issue, and now she will be making her film debut as a psychiatric patient.
Refaeli, 23, will be playing the part of a psychiatric patient in the suspense drama Session, which will be released later this year.
“It’s about my love-hate relationship with a therapist. It was a lovely experience,” the Daily Star quoted her as saying.
As for her making the cover of the swimsuit issue, Refaeli is very excited about it, and says that her grandma is her biggest fan.
“As soon as I found out I’d got the cover this time, I called 30 people – all my friends in Israel, all my friends in LA, my grandma and my grandpa,” she said.
“My family is so proud of me. My grandma says she walks down the street and people go up to her and say, ‘Are you Bar Refaeli’s grandmother?’ She keeps every single article on me,” she added.
And, I can’t help saying the following: She’s Jewish! Mazel tov, Bar.
liz | 2:11 PM | celebrities
“Crazy” Cat Owners, Be Careful
I got this email today from Kristin, who reminds People Like Us to keep our meds properly stored:
My cat, Kiki, apparently found a stray Zoloft pill on the floor or something…no idea how/where/etc. and he ALMOST died from it! The vet thinks he had serotonin syndrome. He was practically in a coma and his body was going crazy. They had to give him activated charcoal and a bunch of other stuff. He couldn’t even move, walk or meow for days! By some miracle he was saved and he is back to his old self!
Anyway, I thought maybe you could remind your readers to be aware of their pills and if their pets should happen to get into something take them to the vet right away and TELL THE VET that the pills might be the problem! My vet didn’t even think to ask if there were SSRIs in the house until I mentioned it. Knowing about the pills determined the whole course of treatment. Without that my cat probably would have died and no one would have known why!!!
And, yes, my cat and I both lost a few years off of our lives with this ordeal!!!
[Photo of my beloved cat Augie, who's gone now due to pancreatic disease.]
liz | 11:49 AM | Uncategorized
Headline: Funny or Offensive?
Travis the Chimp Commits Suicide by Cop; Attack Injures Woman
liz | 2:14 PM | Funny or Offensive?
eGADs. More Pills.
If you have Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD), you’ve probably tried all manner of addictive meds: Valium, Ativan, Klonopin, etc. I don’t have GAD, but I have Jewish Neurotic Disorder, so I take a wee bit of Ativan every night. I live in fear of becoming addicted, particularly after bad experiences with Klonopin.
But whatever your fears, there may be some good news: Some non-addictive, non SSRI anticonvulsants may be useful in treating GAD — at least according to a new article in Psychiatric Times.
The rationale for the use of anticonvulsants in anxiety disorders is supported by neurobiological underpinnings that make these compounds a likely alternative for short-term treatment in patients who do not respond to benzodiazepines or who have a contraindication (an addiction disorder, respiratory problems, or who are at risk for falls). However, data are limited, and current criteria for levels of evidence and lines of treatment recommendations suggest strong evidence only for pregabalin in patients with GAD with or without comorbidity (Table 2).
Pregabalin and gabapentin have been shown to be promising in social phobia. Data about gabapentin in panic disorder are somewhat mixed; they suggest a possible role only in patients who are moderately to severely affected. In any case, these compounds must still be considered second- or even third-line treatment.
Further studies are needed on the neurobiology of anxiety disorders and neuropharmacology of anticonvulsant drugs to develop pharmacological treatment strategies that target symptom patterns and patients’ needs.
The author of the study is Marco Mula, MD, PhD, a research associate and consultant in neurology and neuropsychiatry in the department of clinical and experimental medicine, section of neurology, The Neuropsychiatry Research Group at the Amedeo Avogadro University in Novara, Italy. At the top of the piece, it says, “Although he received no financial support for the preparation of this article, Dr Mula reports that through the years he has received travel support and speakers fees from various pharmaceutical companies who are involved in the manufacture of antiepilectic drugs, including Novartis, Pfizer, UCB-Pharma, Janssen-Cilag, and Sanofi-Aventis.” You can decide for yourself if that disqualifies him for offering objective evidence. I take no position one way or the other.
Can Anticonvulsants Help Patients With Anxiety Disorders?
liz | 1:18 PM | BIG PHARMA, meds
AstraZeneca, Are You Fucking Kidding Me?
Joe, who continues to make me look bad by knowing more than I do, sent me a link to an article about AstraZeneca from the St. Petersburg Times, which is (and this calls for all caps) ABSOLUTELY UNBELIEVABLE:
AstraZeneca, maker of the blockbuster antipsychotic Seroquel, is battling to keep information about the drug out of the public’s view … for the public’s own good.
This month in Orlando, lawyers for the drugmaker will argue that unsealing company documents, including unpublished clinical trial data and letters from the FDA, could harm “a vulnerable patient population.”
“This (disclosure) could jeopardize public safety by causing confusion and alarm in patients, who may then discontinue their medication without seeking the guidance of a medical professional,” lawyers for the drugmaker said in a recent filing in federal court.
This is utter and complete bullshit. AstraZeneca is running scared from revelations that could turn them into another Eli Lilly, so they’re inventing this ridiculous excuse to pretend they’re protecting People Like Us from learning the truth about their meds. To be clear: That’s the premise here—that I’m so mentally unstable that I can’t handle the truth.
So better to keep me in the dark about the dangers of my medication, otherwise I might run out and shoot people or jump off a building or something.
I am outraged by this. The article, by Times staff writer Kris Hundley, breaks it down further and examines all the issues. It also says, “The company said it is aware that the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Philadelphia is investigating Seroquel’s marketing practices, most likely based on whistle blower complaints.” I’ll try to get more information on that if I can.
Seroquel maker wants to seal info from you, “for” you
liz | 10:00 AM | BIG PHARMA, meds, side effects
