Episodes of binge eating disorder last longer than researchers thought

NEW YORK (HealthDay News)—Previous studies have suggested that binge eating disorder may not last long, but a closer look at the condition finds that simply isn’t the case.

“The big takeaway is that binge eating disorder gets better over time, but for many people it lasts for years,” said study first author Kristin Javaras, an attending psychologist in the Division of Women’s Mental Health at McLean Hospital in Boston.

“As a physician, I often have clients I work with who report many, many years of binge eating disorder, which felt very discordant with the studies suggesting it was a transient disorder,” he said in a hospital news release.

“It’s really important to understand how long binge eating disorder lasts and how prone people are to relapse so we can provide better care.”

In binge eating disorder, which usually emerges around age 20, people feel that their eating is out of their control. Between 1 and 3 percent of American adults are thought to have the disorder.

According to Javaras’ team, previous studies looking at binge eating disorder were retrospective (meaning they often relied on people’s recollection of their disorder).

If they were prospective (followed patients over time), they were often very small (fewer than 50 people) or did not include people dealing with severe obesity.

In the new study, Javaras’ team tracked the outcomes of 137 adults diagnosed with binge eating disorder over five years. The people were between 19 and 74 years old and had an average body mass index (BMI) of 36 (the threshold for obesity is a BMI of 30).

People in the study lived independently within their communities and were not in treatment programs, which better reflects “real-world” experiences with binge eating disorders.

At 2.5 years, 61 percent of people in the study still met full criteria for binge eating disorder, and another 23 percent still had “clinically significant symptoms” but did not receive an actual diagnosis of binge eating disorder, the researchers said.

At five years, most study participants still met criteria for binge eating disorder, although some had improved further, the study authors noted.

Even among those who were in remission at 2.5 years, 35 percent progressed to full-blown binge eating disorder at five years, Javaras’ team reported.

At five years, most people still had binge eating episodes, although many had improved.

The findings were published in the May 28 issue of the journal Psychological Medicine.

Javaras notes that previous studies have suggested that treatment programs help curb eating disorders, but not everyone has access to such programs.