Exercise and Pharmacotherapy for the Treatment of Eating Disorders: A Meta-Analysis

Abstract

Eating disorders, including anorexia nervosa, bulimia nervosa, and binge eating disorders, can severely impact peoples physical and mental health. Among all psychological treatments, exercise has been examined lately as one of the novel methods. Multiple literature has proved its benefits on physical health, including improving cardiovascular function and growing skeletal musculature. Moreover, studies have demonstrated its benefits on treating depression and anxiety. However, exercise may be deemed inappropriate in treating eating disorders since patients usually engage in compulsive exercise. In addition to exercise treatment, medications have been broadly applied in eating disorder treatments. Major medications include Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors (SSRI) and anti-psychotics. This meta-analysis aims to determine whether exercise intervention or pharmacological therapy is more effective in treating eating disorders. The result shows little difference in overall effectiveness, but different treatments may impact different symptoms of patients. Future researchers should continuously investigate the effect of exercise intervention and various types of pharmaceuticals to determine their practical application in eating disorder treatment according to the characteristics of specific patients