They have been two difficult years for everyone: Covid has destabilized all treatment paths to give priority to Covid-19 patients. Many departments dedicated to care have been converted, many clinics have suspended their activities and professionals have been assigned to the departments to deal with the ongoing health emergency. The almost collapsed National Health System has rightly concentrated all the forces in the field on the emergency of the pandemic. Entire hospitals have interrupted any type of activity, they have assigned beds also dedicated to patients suffering from Eating and Nutrition Disorders (DAN) to the treatment of Covid-19.
The clinics have been closed, many treatments suspended. For DAN sufferers, these two years have constituted a real health emergency: a pandemic within a pandemic, which affects about 3.5 million people in Italy. People suffering from an eating and nutrition disorder have gotten worse, have relapsed, in many cases treatment has been suspended, and treatment applications for new cases have often gone unanswered.
The cases are increasing
There is a continuous increase in both female and male cases and a lowering of the age of onset of DAN under 14, data that must be taken into consideration in the reprogramming of health services. A cry of alarm, that of the DAN epidemic – announced several times by the Associations and family members – which has never found a concrete response from the institutions both at the Ministerial level and in the regional autonomies. The 3.5 million sufferers of this devastating disease suffer in silence with dignity, the 3,500 deaths a year, with greater variability in regions with poor treatment paths, fail to stir the spirits of our politicians and administrators who do not knowing the complexity of the disease and the damage it produces to patients and the entire family, they underestimate the data presented by the associations.
Anorexia and bulimia, the signs to be grasped and the words not to say to adolescents
Virtuous Regions
In regions with all levels of care, the hospitalization rate, which concerns the need for life-saving hospitalization, is much lower and the mortality rate also falls by avoiding extra-regional mobility, the so-called journeys of hope that do not help families. patients and public health expenditure in Regions where care facilities are absent. We urgently need the first level of care, that of local medicine, which in the case of eating disorders is represented by the outpatient network complete with well-integrated multidisciplinary team, permanently employed and working in synergy with general practitioners, with pediatricians. of free choice and with family associations.
Giulia: “I’ll tell you about the anorexia, it’s not just a question of weight”
by Giulia Dallanoce
The surgeries
We urgently need all the outpatient clinics that have suspended their activities to be operational again. Continuous and specific training of all professionals involved in prevention, diagnosis and treatment must be guaranteed. In addition, the hospitals with dedicated beds in the critical area, essential in cases of emergencies, should be urgently restored. These are minority cases, but too often they have a fatal outcome. We will not tire of repeating that Eating Disorders are the second leading cause of death at a young age, after road accidents.
In health facilities, professional figures are immediately needed (psychiatrists, psychologists, rehabilitation technicians). New hires and specific training are needed. We urgently need to ensure uniformity of health and social standards in all regions.
Eating disorders and Covid: + 36% of cases and + 48% of hospitalizations during the pandemic
by Valeria Pini
He Pnrr
The Regions must be called upon to comply with the national guidelines for mental health and in particular for the treatment of eating disorders. We urgently need the funds from the NRP to also be used for the treatment of eating disorders.
We believe that eating disorders must, while remaining within the mental health departments, have a separate path in Lea from other psychiatric diseases, precisely because they constitute “a world” in their own right, different from other mental illnesses, with special needs. from a diagnostic, clinical and therapeutic point of view.
Family Associations have never stopped and do not stop being close to those who suffer, they have been and are a great point of reference in this very difficult period, they have always continued and continue to make their voices heard by denouncing the critical issues and expressing the requests necessary to ensure adequate care for everyone throughout the national territory.
Because with early diagnosis and treatment, eating disorders can be cured!
Giuseppe Rauso is president of Consult @ noi
“Anorexia seemed ‘a safe haven’ but it was taking away my identity”
