Rome, 16 Mar. (Adnkronos Salute) — The youngest is twelve years old and the oldest 52, sometimes they eat uncontrollably or refuse food, they come to ask for help after years of suffering and their path lasts years, even five. There are over a hundred patients followed by the Service of Eating and Nutrition Disorders (Dan) of the Asl of Sassari, a multidisciplinary team is dedicated to them that accompanies the person on a path that aims to get out of the disease.Yesterday, on the national day of the Lilac Bow, dozens of people approached the clinics on the first floor of the Department of Mental Health of the Asl of Sassari, in via Amendola, some out of curiosity, others to take information for friends, children, relatives.
Suffering from an eating disorder disrupts a person’s life, limits their relational, work and social skills. Intercepting the signs of a food problem is complicated, moreover, the socio-cultural factors related to the ideal of thinness can reinforce the problem. The typical behaviors of an eating disorder are: decreased food intake, fasting, bulimic crises (ingesting a considerable amount of food in a short period of time), vomiting to control weight, the use of laxatives or diuretics in order to control weight, intense physical activity. The multidisciplinary team of the Asl of Sassari is available to the entire population, to perform evaluation, diagnosis and treatment.Nutrition and eating disorders, in particular anorexia, bulimia nervosa and binge eating disorder, are a public health problem of growing importance and subject to health and social attention on a scientific and media level for their diffusion, for the increasingly early onset among the younger segments of the population and for the complex multifactorial etiology.
Recently, international epidemiological studies have found an increased incidence of eating disorders in women aged 12 to 25 years. In the West, including Italy, it is estimated a prevalence of anorexia of 0.2-0.8% and bulimia of about 3% of the population, with an incidence of anorexia of 4-8 new cases per year per 100,000 individuals and 9-12 for bulimia, with an age of onset between 10 and 30 years, and an average age of onset of 17 years.The Asl of Sassari follows a hundred patients, mainly female (10% male), with an age ranging from 12 years to 52, the treatment path can last up to five years.
«These disorders are currently a major public health problem as they continue to increase. In particular, in anorexia, there is a progressive lowering of the age of onset, so much so that it no longer concerns only adolescents, but also children of prepubertal age, with much more serious consequences on the body and mind. The importance of identification and early intervention lies in the fact that, if not treated properly, these diseases increase the risk of permanent damage to all organs and systems of the body (cardiovascular, gastrointestinal, endocrine, hematological, skeletal, central nervous system, dermatological etc.) which can lead, in the most severe cases, to death», explains Antonella Amadori, referent of the Nutrition and Eating Disorders Service. of the Asl of Sassari.
«The experience gained highlights the importance of providing for these conditions an early, structured and multidisciplinary intervention, which therefore makes use of the collaboration of different professional figures», Maria Angela Marras, head of the Mental Health Center of the Asl of Sassari. To access the service of Eating Disorders and Nutrition (incardinated in the Department of Mental Health and Addictions of the Asl of Sassari) simply send an email to the [email protected] address or dial 079 / 2062205, or go to the headquarters in via Amendola, n. 55, first floor. To sensitize the population and turn the spotlight on this disease, the ASL n.1, in collaboration with the Province of Sassari, wanted to launch a message by illuminating the façade of the Palazzo di Piazza Italia with Lilac.
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Source — https://www.univadis.it/viewarticle/giornata-del-fiocchetto-lilla-la-asl-sassari-in-prima-linea