Eating disorders all have different symptoms, but basically, each answer from the fact that the individuals who suffer from them have difficulty separating their emotions from their eating habits. Indeed, they might even prefer to use their eating habits to express their emotions and to communicate with those around them. The way and the amount that they eat are seriously affected, and the long run effects can be devastating and sometimes fateful.

In the United States, the normal standards for the diagnosis for eating disorders are contained in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders released by the American Psychiatric Association. In Europe, slightly different diagnostic criteria are uses.

DSM-IV recognizes two distinct eating disorders anorexia nervosa (anorexia), bulimia nervosa (bulimia). It has a further classification for (Eating Disorders Not Otherwise Specified) into which falls binge eating syndrome, a normally diagnosed condition.

The diagnosis of Anorexia nervosa could be made if the patient fits the following criteria (Adapted from DSM-IV TR)

Refusal to keep body weight at or above that which is regarded as an acceptable minimum for age or height age and height: Weight loss causing body weight of 85% of that expected or failure to gain weight due to normal growth, resulting in body weight less than 85% of that anticipated.

Anorexia nervosa has two sub types, which could be present at different stages of the sickness in the same person. Firstly, the restricting type, in which weight loss is achieved by severely restricting calorific intake without resort to laxative use or self, induced vomiting, and then the Binge Eating Purging type, in which the sufferer may eat large amounts of food then attempts to eliminate the consequences by abusing laxatives.

Bulimia nervosa has the following diagnostic criteria (adapted from DSM-IVTR):

Recurrent episodes of binge eating characterized by some: Eating, within a given period of time, an amount of food that is importantly larger than most people would bring a similar period. A feeling of inability over eating during the episode, described by a belief that what is being eaten can’t be controlled. Frequent recurring inappropriate conduct planned to prevent gaining weight. Self induced vomiting, Abuse of enemas, laxatives or diuretics, Fasting, Excessive exercise. The binge eating and inappropriate behavior both occur, on average, at least twice a week for three months. Self image and self esteem are dependent on perceptions of body shape and weight.

Bulimia, like anorexia falls into 2 sub types:

Purging type: The person on a regular basis self induces and/or misuses of laxatives, enemas or diuretics.

Nonpurging type: There is incompatible compensatory behavior but no self-induced vomiting or medication misuse.

Binge Eating Disorder is better described as episodes of binge eating which are not qualified by the use of laxatives or self induced vomiting. Patients are often obese.

Night Eating Syndrome is disorder qualified by early morning lack of appetite, increased appetite in the evening and eating during the night time. Funnily, patients often have total amnesia of their night time eating episodes.

Other eating disorders commonly found before puberty include food avoidance, choosy eating and pervasive food refusal syndrome. These childhood disorders are generally transient however.

Pica and rumination regurgitating and re-chewing of food are not classified as eating disorders, although they are far from rare.

Eating disorders are much more common in women - ratios of 10:1 Female to Male have been proposed and are also more prevalent in industrial societies where there is an over abundance of food. The generally accepted idea that a woman has to be slim to be attractive is also a factor in the prevalence of eating disorder, especially in Europe and the US.

Eating disorders often co-exist with other psychological disturbances. 50% to 70% of sufferers will generally also suffer from depression, 25% to 50% might have been or are being sexually abused, and up to 25% will suffer from Obsessive Compulsive Disorder. Substance abuse is also common.

Typically, eating disorder behavior is extremely secretive, and accompanied by sever guilty conscience. Obsessive thinking about food, hoarding food and even gathering recipes are often observed behaviors.

There are an estimated $4.0 billion spent on fungal infections, including $1.5 billion for onychomycosis or toenail fungus. Around 35 million people in the United States, and 700 million worldwide, suffer from toenail fungus. Patients and physicians alike have few or no treatment options due to the safety concerns associated oral medications available as the current standard of treatment. Many of these strong drugs can cause liver damage! This is certainly a risk that many are not willing to take.

There are home remedies and there are thousands of products being pushed on the internet, however, the solution for toenail fungus remains elusive. Dr. Marc Katz, a Tampa podiatrist, sees dozens of people each week complaining of the unsightly nail deformities. These patients have spent hundreds of dollars on remedies with no success. They have become so frustrated, says Dr. Katz. People just want to wear their sandals in sunny Florida without feeling self-conscious.

I’m always looking for the most advanced technology to help my patients and now I’ve found the answer, LASER. And not just any laser therapy. In my opinion, the Noveon seems to be the winner.

At first, Dr. Katz investigated the Pinpointe laser but was not impressed. His opinion was that the laser had not been properly studied and he notes that the Pinpointe still has NOT been FDA approved for fungal nails or onychomycosis in the US. In addition, the Pinpointe uses an Nd:YAG laser at 1064 nm in the infrared region that has a higher incidence of burns and can turn normal cells into potentially cancer causing cells.

The Pinpointe beam is not controlled and is dependent on the user placing the beam correctly and keeping it at a set distance. Without this control the treatment success can vary and spots can be missed. Katz stated that the Noveon has overcome this problem by using pods that control the distance and the amount of the beam contacting the nail. The actual laser device controls the treatment seamlessly allowing for the best outcome with a reproducible dose of laser at a specified distance every time.

The Noveon uses 2 different wavelengths of low energy near infrared beams that produce death using light(not heat) without harming the normal tissues. Katz states that this allows for more thorough treatments and better results with less chance of injury.

If you are already going to have the treatment and spend the money you should have the best, said Katz. And he believes that it is worth the wait for FDA approval of the Noveon which should be in early 2010.

Dr. Katz has been chosen by Nomir medical to be one of the early adopters of this cutting edge technology to get rid of toenail fungus. The laser is powerful, proven and allows for reproducible results in a safe environment. Patients are already waiting in line for the treatments, says Katz. The treatment is not covered by insurance but the demand is still huge! The cost will likely be between 800 and 1200 dollars for the full treatment course.

There is no pain involved with the procedure. Most patients will undergo 3 separate treatment sessions with virtually no side-effects. Each treatment session lasts 20 minutes or less and is performed in a comfortable office setting.

So get ready to say goodbye to unsightly toenail fungus.

Drug manufacturing and marketing companies are constantly monitored by regulatory bodies that have stringent rules on manufacturing processes, marketing messages and adverse events reporting. So, it is vital that drug companies keep the channels of communication open, when it comes to dealing with regulatory authorities.

There is a need to constantly update investigators on safety issues pertaining to the drug development cycle and the aftermath as well. This is a labor-intensive process that requires the use of a tremendous amount of resources as safety concerns need to be printed and processed before being handed over to investigators.

However, with the development of information technology, drug companies are these days choosing to employ automated safety-to-investigator technologies that save heavily on time and money. These automated technologies enable drug companies to automatically monitor, track, process and manage the distribution of clinical safety reports and relevant documentation to investigators, regulatory authorities, ethics committees and other stakeholders.

Investing in a fully automated safety-to-investigator system significantly reduces the time and the resources needed to collect, manage and distribute safety documents. It cuts back on costs and overheads which can be directed to the development of better drugs or other biological products.

Most of these pharmacovigilance systems that send out safety reports to investigators are developed from the investigator’s perspective. Hence, the documents are easy-to-comprehend and up-to-date, at all times.

When it comes to Adverse Events Reporting, these automated systems are crucial to the smooth flow of information. The reports sent out help investigators keep track of any adverse effects of the drugs even after they hit the market. Also, in the case of signal detection, the system helps investigators and regulators keep tabs on the processes undertaken to rectify the adverse signals.