Critical gaps in the medical knowledge base of eating disorders

Eat Weight Disord. 2018 Aug;23(4):419-430. doi: 10.1007/s40519-018-0503-4. Epub 2018 Apr 21.

Abstract

Eating disorders are unique in that they inherently have much medical comorbidity both as a part of restricting-type eating disorders and those characterized by purging behaviors. Over the last three decades, remarkable progress has been made in the understanding and treatment of the medical complications of eating disorders. Yet, unfortunately, there is much research that is sorely needed to bridge the gap between current medical knowledge and more effective and evidence-based medical treatment knowledge. These gaps exist in many different clinical areas including cardiology, electrolytes, gastrointestinal and bone disease. In this paper, we discuss some of the knowledge gap areas, which if bridged would help develop more effective medical intervention for this population of patients.

Keywords: Cardiology; Gastroparesis; Medical knowledge; Osteoporosis; Pseudo-Bartter syndrome.

Publication types

  • Review

MeSH terms

  • Evidence-Based Medicine*
  • Feeding and Eating Disorders*
  • Humans
  • Knowledge Bases*
  • Research