ANOREXIA NERVOSA

Anorexia Nervosa is an eating disorder causing people an intense fear of gaining weight even when they are underweight. Hence, they eat very less quantity of food. 

As they are lacking with enough nutrients, their body becomes starved and their body shape gets distorted.

It usually affects the teenagers more commonly in the girls than the boys and it usually develops during the age of puberty. 

Untreated anorexia nervosa can lead to serious health effects like starvation, kidney problems, osteoporosis, and heart problems.

TYPES OF ANOREXIA NERVOSA

There are two types of anorexia;

1. Restricting type: An individual with this type of anorexia nervosa does severe restrictions and hesitation in the quantity of food. 

These may include, skipping meals, counting the calories and following a very poor diet. Their behaviors may be expressed as often doing exercise.

2. Binge eating or purging type: People with this type have the same restrictions on the food they consume but in a different way. Usually, these individuals eat an enormous amount of food they need. But after finishing their meals or breakfast they compensate for the food they consumed by purging out the food through vomiting or using the laxative, enema, and diuretic.

Causes

The exact cause of anorexia nervosa has still remained unknown, but a few kinds of research say its probably a combination of biological, psychological and environmental factors and sometimes sexual abuse may also cause anorexia nervosa.

Symptoms

The main symptoms of anorexia nervosa are losing a lot of weight, the behavior may be obsessive and compulsive and other symptoms include;

Refusal to eat, Cooking many foods for other but refusing to eat, Eating selected foods which are considered low in fat and calories, Making excuses for not eating, Skipping meals, Changes in body shape and size, Denial of hunger even in starving, Avoiding foods by cutting tiny foods and spitting food out after chewing, Weighing food to eat, Difficulty in concentrating, Believing you are fat when you are healthy or underweight

There are other physiological symptoms such as

feeling cold, tired and dizzy, irregular menstrual cycle in younger girls and women’s, poor circulation in hands and feet, hair loss, dry skin or fine down hairy growing on the body, reduced sex drive, social withdrawal/avoidance of social situations involving food, irritability, insomnia.

Complications

Complication of anorexia nervosa is most severing and sometimes it may lead to sudden fetal death. Other complications such as follows:

• Absence of periods in female

• Kidney problems

• Decreased testosterone in male

• Bone weight loss and increased risk of fracture in bone

• Suicide

• Gastrointestinal problems such as constipation, bloating or nausea.

Treatment

The treatment team has doctors, dietitians and therapists are required for the eating disorders. 

There are three necessary components of treatments involves are as follows:

Nutritional: This treatment involves the addressing of diet maintenance, weight restoration, implementation and supervision of a tailored meal plan, and education about normal eating patterns.

Medical: The highest priority in the treatment of anorexia nervosa is addressing any serious health issues that may have resulted from malnutrition, such as an unstable heartbeat.

Therapy: The goal of this part of treatment is to recognize underlying issues associated with the eating disorder, address and heal from traumatic life events, learn healthier coping skills and further develop the capacity to express and deal with emotions.

There is no known way to prevent anorexia nervosa.

Early treatment may be the best way to prevent the disorder from progressing, knowing the early signs and seeking treatment right away can help prevent complications of anorexia.

Thanks for reading!

Article by: Tijani opeyemi

Food, Nutrients & Health

...

For other related articles,

Return to HomePage.