Sleep disorders, known medically as ‘parasomnia’, affects more than 10 per cent of adults. Common behaviours include sleep walking, sexual behaviour and violence., however in one per cent of cases, sleep eating occurs.

The binge eating behaviour is more common in women but it is not indicative of mental instability. However, researchers have noted that people who sleep eat are more likely to be affected by waking eating disorders.

Studies have shown that sleep eaters are more likely to binge on sugary and high-calorie foods but can sometimes ingest dangerous substances such as nail polish. The problem can cause a sleep eater to binge as many as five times in one night.

Sleep eaters have also been known to cause themselves harm through using knives, walking into obstacles and even breaking teeth while trying to eat frozen food.

The eating disorder charity ‘Beat’ carried out the largest study of its kind linking the two behaviours. Researchers spoke to over 600 16-25 year-olds suffering with anorexia, bulimia nervosa or overeating.

Of those surveyed, 91% said they had been bullied while 46% said that bullying has contributed to their eating disorder.

Chief executive of Beat, Susan Ringwood, said they’ve been receiving record numbers of texts. emails and calls from young people who believe bullying contributed to their problem.

“We know this is not the case for most people. There are hard-wired factors, it’s in our genetic make-up, it’s in our brain chemistry,” she said

“But it’s also in the things that happen to us… Bullying lowers your self-esteem and having low self esteem is a really big risk factor for an eating disorder developing.”

Known as ‘othorexia nervosa’, the condition affects men and women in equal numbers and is most common among those over 30 years-old with a middle-class and well-educated background.

The condition which fixates the individual on the consumption of only righteous foods was first diagnosed by the US doctor in 1997. Where other eating disorders concentrate on the quantity of food, orthorexics are solely concerned with the quality of food they consume and restrict their diets according to their understanding of what is deemed to be ‘pure’.

Food and drink such as alcohol, caffeine, corn, dairy, gluten, sugar, salt, wheat and yeast are removed from the diet as are foods that contain additives.

This obsession with foods that are believed to be ‘pure’ is causing a restricted diet which may lead to malnourishment. Orthorexics are also putting relationships at risk due to their behaviour by excluding anyone who does not share their ‘virtuous’ attitude to food.

Experts believe the problem stems from diets which restrict the eating of certain foods and personal trainers who promote specific foods to improve body image or performance. The proliferation of healthy eating advice books may also be increasing and encouraging food anxiety.

A healthy balanced diet requires the correct quantity and quality of food from each of the food groups. When looking for nutritional advice always seek a professional with the correct training and qualifications.

If the claims are correct, thousands of girls and young women may be born with an increased risk of suffering with anorexia and the findings could lead to revolutionary new treatments.

The study challenges existing scientific knowledge that states anorexia is primarily caused by social factors such as self-image and pressure from society to look a certain way.

Anorexia charities believe the findings could alter the way anorexia is treated with the possibility of specific drugs being developed to treat the condition. There is also the potential to screen girls of a certain age to determine risk.

Results from the study carried out at Great Ormond Street Hospital, London were unveiled at a conference last week.

The study looked at 200 anorexia sufferers in Britain, the US and Norway most of whom were female and aged 12-25. 70% were found to have damage to brain cell communication transmitters or had subtle changes to brain structure.

Researchers believe one in every two or three hundred could be affected in a similar way and the condition may be caused by random factors and not due to environment or poor diet during pregnancy alone.

An estimated one million people suffer with eating disorders in Britain with anorexia and bulimia being the most common condition.

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The UK eating disorder charity ‘Beat’ said the increase may be due to girls not getting treatment or support early enough and waiting until they become seriously ill.

The data fails to identify the number of people who have been diagnosed with an eating disorder. Beat went on to say that specialised services were excellent with an increase in the private sector but there are still too few of them. The NHS had only a small increase in their direct services. Shadow government Ministers have called for better education in the dangers of abusing food.

Learn more about eating disorders and the complementary and alternative medicine methods that can help here.

An estimated 2.7 million adults in England have an eating disorder of which around 700,000 are men. Previous research had found the figure around 1.1 million with ten percent being men so these new statistics have shocked eating disorder charities.

Many men may not be aware they have the problem and it can be easily dismissed as a problem for girls and women. However, men are more likely to use the gym excessively or be obsessed over getting fit as a way to lose weight.

Young women aged 16-24 were found to be at the highest risk of developing an eating disorder. This new survey also discovered that four out of five adults were receiving any help from the NHS for their condition

The survey involved questioning thousands of adults about their food behaviour. By answering in the positive to at least two of the questions a participant was defined as having an eating disorder.

Of those surveyed, over 4% of men and over 10% of women felt they had lost control over the amount of food they ate. Around 2% of men and 4% of women said they made themselves sick when they felt they’d eaten too much.

To learn more about eating disorders and natural therapies that can help click here

The complementary therapy ‘Cognitive Behaviour Therapy (CBT)’ may work in four out of five eating disorder cases by releasing people from their obsessive feelings and behaviour.

The study carried out by the University of Oxford had over 150 participants and most had improvement that was long lasting and complete after completing a series of CBT based sessions.

The form of CBT has been recommended for bulimia patients who currently account for 40% of eating disorder cases in the UK. It is believed that over one million people suffer with some form of eating disorder.

The CBT counselling methods focused on links between emotions and behaviour and helped patients to work out ways to change what they were doing. Two versions of the treatment were developed with one centring on the disorder itself and the other examining the eating disorder and problems with self-esteem which may be a contributory factor.

The therapy has received backing from the National Institute of Clinical Excellence and is another recognition for alternative medicine and complementary therapy methods.

To learn more about Cognitive Behaviour Therapy (CBT) and find a therapist close to you click here

Find out more about eating disorders and other complementary therapies that can help here

A recent rise in men being treated for the eating disorder ‘anorexia’ has been blamed on the pressure to look good, according to experts.

Although traditionally associated with women, doctors are seeing a dramatic increase in male sufferers of anorexia and the head of the eating disorder unit at St.George’s Hospital in London believes it is down to increased social pressure on the male image.

“Last week for the first time ever I had more male referrals for anorexia than female,” said Professor Hubert Lacey.

“That was just one week this summer but I would say it has been increasing steadily in the past two or three years.”

Dubbed as ‘manorexia’, this latest comment comes as the number of men treated for anorexia has increased by 67% in the last five years. Men now account for 5-10% of all eating disorder sufferers.

“The disorder is still much more prevalent in females than males but the main increases have been in teenage boys,” added Professor Lacey.

“A few years ago it was often the case that my ward had no men on it. Now, on a ward of 20, I have three men.

“Statistics say that only 5 or 10 per cent of anorexia sufferers are men. Three out of 20 is more than that and I can only see the number of male referrals increasing.

“I don’t know why I’m seeing more men but an educated guess is that social changes mean image is more important to men than it used to be.”

Professor Lacey believes that men do not seek treatment for their condition because the disorder is considered to be a woman’s problem.

Numbers begin treated are also lower because there are fewer facilities for men and rules state that men are not allowed to occupy the same ward as girls under the age of 18.

“I know of some hospitals that don’t treat any men because of this rule,” he said.

“Because more females are referred for treatment some places have had to make a choice between the two and have chosen to treat women.

“It’s a shame, because while I can see why the rule is in place, the symptoms are exactly the same. They all have an intense fear of natural body weight.”

Mark Reilly from the eating disorder charity, B-eat has welcomed these latest comments as awareness of the problem among men should be increased to encourage them to come forward and receive treatment.

“Research suggests that 100,000 men in the UK have anorexia or bulimia, but that is based on the men who come forward,” he said.

“The true figure is much higher. There are still many blokes who don’t want to talk about health issues, including anorexia.”

Alternative medicine and complementary therapy can provide a confidential environment in which to discuss eating disorders such as anorexia.

Learn more about eating disorders and effective treatments here