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Extremely Severe Intractable Binge Eating Disorder: A Case Report with Successful Alternative Therapy using Traditional Chinese Medicine

Yong Zhang, Zheman Xiao, Zuneng Lu

Binge Eating Disorder (BED) is the most common eating disorder. Psychotherapy is the first-line treatment for patients with BED. However, only 50% of these patients usually benefit from psychotherapy, and pharmacotherapy is less effective than psychotherapy. We herein report a 73-year-old patient with extremely severe intractable BED, who ate substantially during every meal, did not stop eating until he felt extreme discomfort due to abdominal distension and ate more than 10 meals every day. Only an enema with 500 mL of soapy water every day could improve his constipation and extreme discomfort. The patient was transferred to dozens of hospitals because of the disease and had tried a variety of treatments, which had no effect on his BED. However, his symptoms almost completely subsided after taking only an herbal formula based on Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) principles for 2 months, and the herbal formula had no side effect on him. Herbal formulas based on TCM may be an alternative therapy for those with extremely severe intractable BED.