Health Network News

The average length of time that person struggles with an eating disorder is about 7 years; a period that many top professionals in the field consider too long, and unacceptable. Many therapist who specialized in eating disorder treatment have been using the same approach and techniques for decades with less than impressive results. Professionals without specialized training often end up with patients who show little progress or, worse yet, complicate the situation even more. A major source of the less-than-stellar treatment success is the fact that treatment professionals often are not up-to-date on recent developments in their field. For many, the time it takes to run their practice can leave little time to pour through scientific journals and remain current in their field.

Disorder treatment, much of the information published gets reported throughout numerous journals that are not readily accessible to most providers or are financially not feasible. Subscribing to all the necessary journals would cost way to much money to be available to providers today. National conferences, which are imperative are not cost effective and few will spend their resources to attend. EDNN is filling that missing link in current and continuing education for health care professionals as well as family and friends of afflicted people.

“It has been my experience that too many professionals and providers who see eating disorder patients have always been significantly behind the learning curve when it comes to evidence based treatment approaches and research findings,” states Dr. Marc Schwartz, a child and adult psychiatrist in Arizona who has a large eating disorder practice. “It’s great to see a site like this where I can go to once a week and get a brief newscast that keeps me current with recent research.” While some in the medical field often prefer treatment that is “evidence based,” the field of eating disorders often is disjointed and has been operating more as an art-form than as a medical practice.

“At times I think the public and profession forgets that this (an eating disorder) is first and foremost a serious medical condition with a very high rate of death if not properly treated,” reports Dr. Jeffrey DeSarbo, a Board Certified Psychiatrist and Producer of the EDNN. The public, patients and their families often are not aware that eating disorders have the highest mortality of any of the psychiatric conditions with up to one in seven people dying from their condition, some by suicide and others from medical complications. “I think a site like the eating disorder news network can also build awareness to potential patients who think that they can simply go to any doctor, therapist or nutritionist for treatment. I think the newscast section of the site definitely sends a message to patients and inexperienced treatment providers that you need specialist when treating an eating disorder,” states Dr. DeSarbo.

Now, treatment providers including physicians, therapists and nutritionist can spend just a few minutes a week on the EDNN site and be able to demonstrate their knowledge in their practice. To learn more, go to www.EatingDisorderNews.com and tour the site.