Eating Disorders are affecting an increasing number of adolescent girls. The two most common are Anorexia Nervosa and Bulimia Nervosa. Anorexia is the refusal to eat and can lead to extreme weight loss, hormonal problems, and death. Bulimia involves cycles of binge eating followed by self-induced vomiting.
It occurs most often with pre-teen and teenage girls, but has been known to develop in both men and women from adolescence through adulthood. The extreme attitudes and behaviors that these girls have towards food and weight lead to inaccurate perceptions and life-threatening complications.
Symptoms
Anorexia usually starts with normal dieting to lose weight, switching to less and less eating each day. The less she eats, the more emotionally fulfilled she may feel, leading to eating even less.
There may be the occasional binge where she eats enormous quantities of food and then purges her indiscretion by vomiting. She may regularly use laxatives to help pass the food she does consume. If she follows the binge-purge pattern more consistently than starvation, she is considered bulimic.
When weight drops to about 26 pounds below normal, an anorexic will most likely stop having periods as her body attempts to avoid the stress of a pregnancy. Also, her body will grow more hair to help conserve the heat that would otherwise escape without sufficient body fat. Her skin may begin to look sallow, waxy, and thin.
Someone with an eating disorder learns quickly how to hide her behaviors. She may throw food away claiming to have eaten it. She may be abnormally energetic. She will continue to complain about being fat and having problem areas despite her emaciated appearance.
Risks
Many teenagers will go through a phase of excessive dieting, but only a minority develops anorexia or bulimia. Up to 15% die as a result of starvation, infections from poor nutrition, dehydration from laxatives and vomiting, or from suicide.
Bulimics often have severe damage to their teeth due to the exposure to stomach acid from repeated vomiting. Their entire digestive systems become imbalanced by the binge-and-purge cycles, affecting the heart and other major organs. People with eating disorders have a high risk for heart failure. They also reduce their bone density (osteoporosis), have muscle loss, dry hair and skin, and have hair loss.
Treatment
As with many disorders, treatment of bulimia and anorexia is much more effective the earlier it is caught. Depending on the severity and progression of the disorder, psychiatric evaluation and/or hospitalization may be necessary. A team of experienced physicians, nurses, and dietitians is the best bet for managing this illness.
Detailed programs including well-planned diets, psychotherapy and other tactics are initiated within the treatment center where full attention can be placed on getting emotional and physical healing. However, even after a patient is considered recovered, it will continue to be a struggle in her life.
A strong support network of friends and family is imperative to her continued health and her resistance to slipping back into old habits.
Anorexia Nervosa and Bulimia Nervosa are two of the most serious eating disorders. It was seen that those who are affected by anorexia are having the obsession that they are fat, they permanently want to become thinner, even if they are underweight. Bulimia is dealing with cycles of binge eating, followed by behavior to prevent weight gain. It was seen that some persons have a mixture of symptoms and sometimes, bulimia nervosa occurs after anorexia nervosa. It is very important that those affected by these illnesses to search for medical help, the doctor will give them advices and help them to defeat the disease.
It is known that women, especially adolescent girls are affected by these illnesses, and about 5% of people with anorexia are men. It was also seen that 2% of teenage girls and young women have bulimia, and 1% have anorexia. Science has not established yet the exact causes that lead to an eating disorder but it is thought that in many cases a distressing event can be a factor to it.
People with anorexia have a distorted perception of body weight or shape, they think are fat even if the truth is they are underweight, they develop a permanent fear of weight gain, and are too scraggy for their age and height. They are also having some behaviors in order to control weight, like over-exercising, restricting food, vomiting, misuse of laxatives, diuretics or diet pills. It was also seen that it is possible to appear a loss of monthly periods in women, and in girls delay in starting them. People with bulimia, in order to prevent weight- gain, are using methods like self-induced vomiting, fasting, misuse of laxatives, diuretics, diet pills and are doing excessive exercise. Those people are feeling out of control when bingeing, but after that they feel guilty, and although they are experiencing frequent changes in weight, we can say their weight is normal or a little above normal.
Anorexia and bulimia could be caused by some factors, like the psychological, social and emotional effects. We can include here family conflict, guilt, deceptions, depression, mood swings, social isolation. It was seen that the risk of suicide increases in persons having an eating disorder. Physical problems that appear due to these disorders are growth of fine downy hair over the face and body, constipation, difficulty in thinking clearly, swollen salivary glands, osteoporosis, anemia, impaired kidney function, dehydration, abnormal heart rhythm and other.
It is important that these illnesses to be recognized in early stages, because in that way it will be easier to prevent long-term problems. The treatment can include counseling, dietary education for healthy eating, and if the patient is dealing with severe depression, some medication will be given. Sometimes medication is helpful in people with bulimia too. It was seen that early detection and treatment gives the best results.
Both John Russell & Groshan Fabiola are contributors for EditorialToday. The above articles have been edited for relevancy and timeliness. All write-ups, reviews, tips and guides published by EditorialToday.com and its partners or affiliates are for informational purposes only. They should not be used for any legal or any other type of advice. We do not endorse any author, contributor, writer or article posted by our team.
John Russell has sinced written about articles on various topics from Aging, Fitness and Wrinkles. John Russell of IH Distribution, LLC brings you health, anti-aging and skin care products from around the world. Find fabulous skin care tips and great articles on a wide range of topics for women at. John Russell's top article generates over 27100 views. to your Favourites.
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