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The Horrible Truth about Anorexia
Author: Julianna Bragg
Website:
Added: Fri, Sep 8, 2006 14:44:09
Category: Diet & Nutrition
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Imagine that your reflection in the mirror shows heavy bulges of fat wrapping your body like a blanket. Anorexics see rolls of fat drooping from every area of their body every time they look at themselves, even if they are dangerously underweight.
Anorexia Nervosa is an eating disorder described by the intense fear of being fat accompanied with a distorted self view where a person only sees themselves as overweight. To overcome this, anorexics starve themselves without mercy until they typically become 15% below their normal body weight.
An anorexic will exercise excessively, take laxatives, starve themselves, or use a combination of these unhealthy methods to achieve this weight loss. Combined with the low body weight, these unhealthy practices often cause the anorexic to become severely ill, even near death.
Strange eating habits can also accompany anorexia. An anorexic may not want people to see them eat, or they could cook a huge meal for other people and then refuse to eat any of it. Anorexia is a psychological disorder, so it takes a lot of support from family and a trained professional to guide the anorexic back to health. Unfortunately, an anorexic often resists any help, so anger and denial can easily surface.
The list of dangerous medical problems associated with anorexia is frightening. Shrinking of bones and mineral loss are dangerous enough, but these also lead to osteoporosis. An irregular heartbeat as well as a low body temperature can also develop.
Anorexia usually sets in around puberty, and is also associated with people of high socioeconomic class. People involved in modeling, theater, long distance running, and any other activities where thinness is encouraged are susceptible to anorexia. In the United States, roughly 1% of teenage girls fall victim to Anorexia Nervosa, and an estimated 10% of these girls will die from the effects associated with the disease. While girls are more likely to fall victim to anorexia, boys are not immune to this disease.
Warning signs to look for to identify anorexia nervosa are: loss of menstrual period, obsessive dieting when there is no evidence of being overweight, being 15% or more below normal body weight, an obvious preoccupation with food and calories, claiming to be overweight when they are not, denial of hunger, and obsessive exercise.
The best thing you can do if you think a friend or family member might have fallen victim to anorexia nervosa is to contact a trained health professional. There are health specialists in eating disorders who are specially trained to identify and treat people with these illnesses.
About the Author:
Julianna Bragg is a free-lance writer for medical journals on many aspects of health with an emphasis on Women's Health.
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