It is known that those who are obsessed by losing weight, permanently count calories and exercise too much can become affected by an eating disorder, and that will determine serious emotional and physical consequences.



We can say there are a few signs that can show us a person has anorexia. The one affected by this illness develops an intense fear of body fat and gaining weight, is having a distorted image of his body , believes it is fat even when underweight, and has the permanent desire to become thinner.

It was seen that people affected by anorexia try to hide their symptoms, so the others will not notice very easy the signs and symptoms of this illness. However, the signs and symptoms of anorexia include frequent skipping of meals, excessive focus on an exercise regimen, avoidance of social gatherings where food is involved, dramatic weight loss, wearing baggy clothing to cover up thinness, frequent looking in the mirror for flaws; females can miss three consecutive menstrual periods and males will experience a decreased sexual desire.

There are known two types of anorexia. The person who has the restrictive type eats too little, and by excessively exercising and self- starvation, loses weight.

In what concerns the second type, the persons having binge- eating anorexia eat too little, and also binge and purge. It is known that the persons from this type of anorexia have symptoms of both anorexia and bulimia, and 50% of people with anorexia develop bulimia too.

There can appear some physical effects of anorexia, and we can mention here: severe dehydratation which can determine kidney failure, hair loss, hypersensitivity to heat, fatigue, lowered resistance to illness, and less need for sleep than normal eaters. In severe cases there can also appear low heart rate, low body temperature, low blood pressure, heart trouble, anemia and even death.

It is known that there can show up emotional and behavioral effects of anorexia, such as depression, irritability, bad memory, isolation from family and friends, feelings of guilt, difficulty in concentrating on anything else except weight, emotional regression to a child-like state and others.

There are some factors that can lead to anorexia. For example, socio-cultural factors. Because our society associates thinness with attractiveness and success, people try to be just like that.

Also, the individual's inner feelings, personality characteristics, and personal history can lead to anorexia as well. Anorexia can appear because of critical transitions or emotional upsets, interpersonal, or relationship problems, depression, anxiety, feelings during adolescence of being powerless. Often associated with anorexia is: perfectionism, approval-seeking, low self-esteem, withdrawal, obsessiveness, black-or- white thinking.

There can also be some biological causes of anorexia, studies revealed that a predisposition to anorexia may be genetically based.

When a person goes to the doctor for a possible diagnosis of anorexia, the doctor will first see if endocrine, metabolic, and central nervous system disorders do not explain the weight loss. In this way he will know if anorexia is the cause, and he can also perform some tests to see the damage already done to the body. These tests can be a physical exam, laboratory tests- like blood test and urinalysis, other specialized tests-like x-ray and electrocardiogram, and a psychological evaluation.