This document provides definitions for various terms related to eating disorders. It defines and describes key concepts such as anorexia nervosa, bulimia nervosa, binge eating, purging, amenorrhea, diuretics, and others. The definitions are intended to help understand the medical aspects and behaviors associated with different eating disorders.

1. Eating Disorder Glossary (Part I) Mersedeh Arvaneh, Irvine CA, July 2010 References: National Institutes of Health (NIH), National Mental Health Information Center Ohio State University, The University of Chicago Medical Center Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital

2. Adipose Tissue: Fat tissue.

3. Aerobic: Fat-fueled; aerobic exercise increased basal metabolic rate, reduces appetite, firms muscles, improves cardiac and respiratory function, and burns flab.

4. Adult-Onset: Occurring for the first time in those who have reached maturity.

5. Amenorrhea: The loss of the menstrual cycle. In terms of eating disorders this is usually the result of excessive weight loss and often accompanied by excessive exercise.

6. Anorectic: A name frequently used for diet medications that cub appetite.

7. Anorexia Nervosa: Self-induced starvation with at least 15 percent of original body weight lost. Victims also have amenorrhea, fat phobia, and a severe distortion of body image.

8. anorexia nervosa (Also called anorexia.) (2): An eating disorder in which people intentionally starve themselves. It causes extreme weight loss, which the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH), part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), defines as at least 15 percent below the individual's normal body weight.

9. Binge Eating Disorder: A disorder that resembles bulimia nervosa and is characterized by episodes of uncontrolled eating (or bingeing). It differs from bulimia, however, because its sufferers do not purge their bodies of the excess food, via vomiting, laxative abuse, or diuretic abuse.

10. Bingeing : persons with bulimia nervosa engage in a destructive pattern of excessively overeating, called bingeing.

11. Bulimia Nervosa: Uncontrolled eating in the presence of a strong desire to lose weight.

12. Diuretic: A chemical that stimulates the production of urine. Also known as a water pill.

13. Enema: The injection of a liquid into the lower bowel through the rectum to compel elimination.

14. Gastroplasty: A surgical procedure used to reduce the digestive capacity by shortening the small intestine or shrinking the effective side of he stomach.

15. Hunger: The physical urge to eat that is prompted by immediate need or energy.

16. Juvenile-Onset: Occurring between infancy to young adulthood.

17. Obesity: This controversial term is often used to describe individuals at least 20 percent above the weight recommended for one's height.

18. Oral Expulsion Syndrome (OES): The chewing but avoidance of swallowing food. OES is a diet technique in some people, but the reflection of emotional disturbance and eating disorders in most.

19. Pathorexia: Disordered appetite. It refers to the whole spectrum of food disorder problems

20. Purgatives: A substance or method used to eliminate food before it can be digested.

21. Purging: A forced cleansing or release. In terms of eating disorders this is usually done by vomiting or laxative abuse.

22. Purging (2): persons with bulimia nervosa engage in a destructive pattern of ridding their bodies of the excess calories (to control their weight) by vomiting, abusing laxatives or diuretics, taking enemas, and/or exercising obsessively - a process called purging.

23. Rumination: The apparently voluntary regurgitation, chewing, and re-swallowng of food.

24. Set point (Theory): The weight a person or an animal maintains and returns to after dieting or overfeeding. Set point varies with age and activity levels, and may be raised if the organism is subject to chronic deprivation.

25. Thermo genesis: The generation of heat, particularly in brown fat deposits, that provides necessary warmth, and may also be a way the body burns excess food and so avoids eight gain.