Word: binckley
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Unbeknownst to the specialists, Binckley had been spending every waking moment obsessing about food, her weight and ways to avoid eating. At times she consumed only 300 to 500 calories a day. She exercised compulsively, waking at 4 a.m. to take three-hour walks near her home in suburban Philadelphia. All that behavior is typical of patients with the eating disorder anorexia. But her doctors missed the symptoms because, she says, none of them had ever asked Binckley about her diet and lifestyle...
Anorexia is still considered primarily a young woman's disease, but Binckley is among a growing number of aging Americans diagnosed with the disorder. Although statistics aren't available on just how many Americans over 50 suffer from anorexia, therapists and rehabilitation centers that specialize in eating disorders report that every year, they're ministering to more middle-aged and older patients, mostly women. The condition strikes people across ethnic and economic lines. Says Margo Maine, a psychotherapist and an eating-disorder specialist based in West Hartford, Conn., and a co-author of The Body Myth: Adult Women...
Marcia Johnson, 62, of Wellington, Fla., a married mother of three and a former dancer, received a diagnosis of anorexia a dozen years ago, although she now recognizes that she showed symptoms of it by puberty. Binckley and Johnson note that their nonstop focus on food and body image slowed down when they were cooking meals for their growing children. Then as middle age set in, a sense of loss--a feeling that's particularly acute for anorexics at midlife--set off a flare-up. "The loss of order--brought on by a change in job status, marriage, children...
Still, many doctors, like Binckley's, fail to spot the potentially fatal problem in an older person because they're not looking for it. And in a country where obesity seems to be running rampant, a featherweight figure is often prized. "A doctor may see a slender patient and say, 'Here's one without that problem,'" explains Andres Pumariega, a psychiatrist at the Reading Hospital and Medical Center in Pennsylvania. "It's become a silent epidemic...
Having received the correct diagnosis and treatment, Binckley is now robust, content and at ease. Her headaches and fainting spells are long gone. Her weight, once a wispy 100 lbs. on a 5-ft. 4-in. frame, ranges from 125 lbs. to 135 lbs. The biggest change, however, is that she's free of the tormenting worry about her body and what she eats. "Overall, I am happier and enjoying life like never before," she says. "To use food as a metaphor, life is delicious...