| Introduction
The relation between eating and alcoholism seems
to be a well accepted and documented fact considering
the fact that the intake of alcohol at moderate
levels induces higher intake of food. In fact,
many doctors prescribe small doses of alcohol
for people who have problems in eating the sufficient
quantity of food required by them. However, the
link between eating disorders and alcoholism has
recently attracted the attention of scientists
mainly because mortality due to obesity, alcoholism,
and deliberate starvation is a very important
problem of the modern society. In fact, these
three diseases seem to be related and those affected
by them fall in similar patient categories.
Analysis
It has been observed that alcoholism, i.e., over
drinking, often causes less intake of food in
people. This may be due to a variety of factors
such as psychological and economical. Psychological
factors come into play when alcoholics tend to
drink rather than eat even though they have resources
at hand. Economical factors play an important
role because alcoholics will prefer to spend their
resources on drinks rather than food. Then there
is also the cases of alcoholics who are addicted
to alcohol but also consume food that is much
more than what they require. Such people typically
become obese and ungainly. Hence alcoholism can
be analyzed in relation to eating disorders in
two different perspectives: Alcoholism induced
or influenced anorexia, and alcoholism induced
obesity. Similarly alcoholism can also be considered
as a co-morbid condition associated with anorexia
or obesity.
Recent studies also point to the fact that alcoholism
and substance abuse have a higher probability
of co-existing with eating disorders. In fact
both alcoholism and eating disorders may be related
by the fact that both have psychological implications
on the patient. Researchers often suggest that
psychological factors may be an important reason
that links alcoholism and different kinds of eating
disorders. On further analysis it may be seen
that both eating disorders and alcoholism may
have a variety of similar reasons for its occurrence
such as familial factors, social precipitators,
and economic reasons. Even though much research
has not been done on the subject, there is enough
proof to suggest that alcoholism and eating disorders
may have a common thread that leads to its occurrence.
Modern science has begun to consider alcoholism
as a disease and not essentially as a problem
that is associated with one’s moral perceptions
or lack of character. In this sense it would only
seem natural that alcoholism is also considered
as a disease that can exist with a number of other
disorders. For example, Vastog (2001) has found
out that there is a high incidence of alcoholic
prevalence in people who suffer from anorexia.
In fact Vastog has recorded that alcoholism and
substance abuse in cases of anorexia may be half
as high as those suffering from Bulimia. Substance
abuse is seen to occur in 12-18 percent of patients
suffering from anorexia, while it is 30-70 percent
in patients with Bulimia
Psychological similarity between alcoholics and
binge eaters is considered to be one of the many
factors that help in the co-existence of binge
eating and alcoholism. Psychologists believe that
binge eating, i.e., periodic episodes of unrestrained
eating and alcoholism have a common psychological
indicator: impulsiveness. Experts believe that
people who are impulsive may be more prone to
alcoholism and binge eating. As mentioned before,
alcoholism and binge eating in this regard must
not be considered as an indicator of emotional
weakness or lack of self control. On the contrary
it must be seen as a deficiency of psychological
factors, which causes the patient to eat or drink
compulsively without being able to exercise self
control [GRILO, 2002]
Many psychologists and sociology experts also
believe that eating disorders may be influenced
by other seemingly unrelated aspects like childhood
abuse, and lack of a good family atmosphere during
childhood. It must be remembered that these same
factors are also responsible for turning a person
into an alcoholic. Recent research also suggests
that psychiatric disorders that are usually seen
in people with eating disorders may be aggravated
with the use of alcohol. Similarly, it was seen
that people with alcoholic tendencies seem to
be inclined towards over eating at least at some
points of their lives. In the case of women, it
was found that women with alcohol dependence had
considerable risk for developing bulimia nervosa
(BN), and eating disorder not otherwise specified
(EDNOS). Similarly, alcoholics and people with
certain types of eating disorders also had similar
anxiety problems. [Carlos M. Grilo, Rajita Sinha,
Stephanie S. O'Malley, 2002]These findings have
encouraged experts to make attempts to correlate
factors that are common to alcoholics as well
as people with eating disorders. Scientists are
now trying to analyze the common factors that
induce alcoholism or eating disorders so that
controlling one aspect could prevent the other.
Research also indicates that increased occurrence
of eating disorders occur in college going women
when they are exposed to alcohol and cigarettes.
This seems to suggest that people with eating
disorders, women in particular, take to extreme
dieting or binge eating when they get exposed
to peer suggestions about shape and lifestyle.
Experts believe that peer influence is a very
important factor that can contribute to alcoholism
in certain susceptible age groups. It has been
seen that people who have sexually active friends
can be more prone to alcoholism. Research also
suggests that people who have sexually active
friends are 31 times likely to have used alcohol
and other drugs. Similarly people who have a boyfriend
or a girlfriend also run a higher risk of being
exposed to alcohol. The statistics points to the
importance of peer influenced behavior that can
modify the normal behavior in people [Mona El-Sheikh,
2001]. Since teens and college going adults can
be influenced by peer behavior, it may be expected
that the factors that makes them vulnerable to
alcohol can also induce eating disorders in them
to a certain degree. This is because eating disorders
like alcoholism originates from psychological
problems. The fact that the prime age in which
anorexia is seen in men and women is when they
are between 14 -18 and that It is also seen in
people as old as 40 suggests that it has got to
do something with the active reproductive phase
of an individual [Mai Tran, 2001]
A very clear relation between eating disorders,
alcoholism and genetic factors is lacking even
though research done a few years before suggested
that these diseases may have a common genetic
origin [[Carlos M. Grilo, Rajita Sinha, Stephanie
S. O'Malley, 2002]]
Management and Treatment
Even though many observations point to the fact
that alcoholism and substance abuse may have some
common causative factors, definite scientific
theories which prove this are lacking. In fact
the effort to co-relate alcoholism and eating
disorders still presents a challenge to experts
who are trying to find some common factors that
may precipitate these problems. In fact many scientists
believe that the psychological factors involved
in these two disease conditions may be the only
common factors between them.
Opioid antagonists seem to have significant success
rates against alcoholism as well as eating disorders.
Recently much research is being carried out to
find out a suitable remedy for these diseases.
In addition, various other treatment methods that
gives importance to psychological approaches have
also seem to have significant results on both
alcoholics as well as people with eating disorders
[Carlos M. Grilo, Rajita Sinha, Stephanie S. O'Malley,
2002]]
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