Background: In this workshop, I will review the fundamental medical problems that arise from severe restriction and from severe purging, with a focus for the attendee on using this information to break through the client's resistance and denial, and motivate treatment as well as better clinical outcomes.
In this workshop, I will review in Spanish:
General medical complications of underweight and purging
Specific complications of underweight (pure restriction) including: refeeding syndrome, vital sign abnormalities, hypoglycemia, gastroparesis, osteoporosis, low cell counts, and liver dysfunction
Specific complications of purging (in anorexia or bulimia) including: pseudobartter syndrome, electrolyte abnormalities, constipation, detoxification off of purging
Patients with eating disorders often struggle with denial of disease severity, which contributes to their resistance to treatment. In this workshop, Dr. Gaudiani will review the commonest medical complications of severe restricting and severe purging in a case-based format. In addition to reviewing clinical presentations, diagnosis, and basic management strategies, Dr. Gaudiani will aim particularly to empower non-physician eating disorder clinicians--dietitians, therapists, nurses, and allied professionals--with useful ways of communicating this objective evidence of body suffering to their clients, in order to help break through denial and motivate recovery.
Dr. Jennifer L. Gaudiani, MD, CEDS, is the Associate Medical Director of ACUTE and an Associate Professor of Medicine at the University of Colorado School of Medicine. She oversees the clinical, strategic, and administrative management of ACUTE, attends on the service, and maintains engagement with patients when not attending clinically. Dr. Gaudiani completed her undergraduate work at Harvard College, earned her medical degree from Boston University School of Medicine, and completed her residency and chief residency in Internal Medicine at Yale. Dr. Gaudiani has published extensively medical complications of eating disorders and has lectured nationally and internationally on the topic.
