Some common facts about anorexia nervosa, more commonly known as “anorexia”, is that it is a psychiatric eating illness characterized by tremendously low body weight coupled with the excessive fear of gaining weight. People suffering from this kind of eating sickness are commonly known as “anorexics”.

Anorexics starve themselves by insistently limiting the amount of food they consume because of the extreme fear of becoming fat. Their eating habits originate from this fear, especially women and adolescent girls. As such, the after effect is that these people turn out to be very thin and their weight is usually over 15 percent below their normal body weight.

Anorexics, although they are thin and skeletal, believe that they are overweight. Driven by this fear, they do tiresome workouts and exercises. Some even consume laxatives and do not eat or drink anything within any given day. Even though they have grown to be thin overall, they still have the mindset that they have gained weight.

There are cases of people becoming very ill and in some cases, the anorexic even goes through a near death experience. People suffering from anorexia in general are amongst the top level of society and people occupying professions that call for thinness or being skinny, like dancing and theater acting.

Anorexics often develop bizarre eating practices and they usually refuse to eat in other people’s company. Some of these anorexics will eat a full meal, and then afterwards, force themselves to vomit everything they have consumed. Most of them limit themselves to less than 500 calorie intake per day while turning down any kind of food with fat or sugar in it. These anorexics also have a penchant to overuse laxatives or water pills so that they won’t put on even a quarter of a pound of weight.

Anorexia can be diagnosed by comparing the weight of a person to the expected weight of another person of the same sex, age, height and weight. Once these differences in the margin of weight and other factors are noted, further tests will be initiated, like heart and lung checks, blood pressure monitoring, and skin and hair assessment. There may also be additional tests concerning the blood and even X-rays.

Once anorexia nervosa is detected, the treatment for it needs to begin immediately. As of today, there are no known medicines to take care of this kind of eating disorder, but that does not mean it cannot be cured. Since it is both a type of physical and emotional problem, the primary step to anorexia help is to understand the problem.

Know the different facts about anorexia first by consulting a dietitian, a doctor, and a counselor. These people will help anorexics get through this kind of illness through therapy and other forms of guidance and instructions.

Therapy is typically the first form of treatment for anorexia, but can get quite expensive and is, quite frankly, a crapshoot. Sometimes it works, sometimes it does not. But there is a home management program available that has helped numerous anorexics and is endorsed by leading physicians.

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In this day and age of stress and pressure, it is of no surprise that many people succumb to eating disorders.

There are several different kinds of disorders connected to eating but the two most common are anorexia nervosa and bulimia nervosa.

These two types of eating disorders are similar to each other with slight differences that really differentiate them.

Anorexia Nervosa

This type of disorder manifests as a fear of gaining weight. The fear is so extreme that the way the person sees himself as distorted to the point that even when he is too thin, his mind still thinks he is fat.

Thus the compulsive need to lose weight by dieting, exercising and other means is initiated by the person.

Most eating disorders stem from the need to lose weight although there are may also be some that comes from the need to gain weight.

Over time the destructive need to lose weight can lead to organ failure and other conditions. These kinds of eating disorders may not be noticeable for the first few months because the weight loss may seem normal if not rapid.

Anorexia nervosa will be more obvious when the individual is too thin and still tries to lose weight. Eating disorders of this kind may also prompt the individual to get rid of the food that he has eaten via purging, vomiting and the use of laxatives.

The use of these methods does not happen often for those suffering from anorexia nervosa because the individual himself will restrict or limit the food he ingests.

Bulimia Nervosa

The other common kind of disorder associated with eating and weight loss is bulimia.

These eating disorders find the individual bingeing on food, usually junk food and then feeling guilty about it.

To ease the guilt, he tries to purge himself by inducing vomiting or using laxatives.

Sometimes, he might also exercise to the point of exhaustion just to compensate for the food he was bingeing on previously.

To be a bulimic, one usually goes through bingeing and purging at least once or twice a week.

Despite the similarities of the two eating disorders, there are also some differences.

The most marked is the physical state of the person.

Most people suffering from anorexia are too thin and obviously underweight. Bones will show as well as the apparent lack of nutrition in the skin and hair.

Bulimics on the other hand may appear normal, both in body weight and physical state.

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Many people are overweight, which is why they are motivated to try and lose weight.

It is often the need to appear thin that gets people started on anorexia nervosa. This eating disorder can be fatal for many people who suffer from this and may be blamed on the mental state of the individual.

Symptoms Of Anorexia

This eating disorder has very obvious symptoms that the people around the sufferer may notice.

• One very clear symptom of anorexia nervosa eating disorder is the individual’s rapid and alarming weight loss.

The individual may appear gaunt and spindly as well as out of balance when suffering from this eating disorder. The weight loss is due to the compulsive need for the individual to reduce his or her food intake.

• Another symptom of this eating disorder is the voluntary restriction of food for the individual.

This voluntary restriction is compulsive that the individual may throw up if he or she forces food into the body.

This is a very dangerous sign of this eating disorder because this means the disorder has reached epic proportions and the individual must be brought to psychiatric care as soon as possible.

• Other symptoms of this eating disorder are constant fatigue, the constant need to sleep, social retreat and depression.

These symptoms of anorexia nervosa may not be apparent at first but when you notice the physical symptoms, things may click into place.

• Listlessness and disinterest in previous interest may also manifest as symptoms of anorexia.

• An anorexic’s skin is also affected by the eating disorder.

Those who suffer from anorexia nervosa might manifest dry flaky skin which can turn a light yellow at some point of the disorder. Head hair may fall in clumps and the nails can become brittle and easily break or chip off.

Physical Effects Of Anorexia Nervosa

This eating disorder not only affects the person’s appearance but also the internal state of the individual.

Many organs are affected by the restriction of food and nutrients.

• The digestive system is among the primary body functions that may suffer from this eating disorder.

Gastrointestinal condition may occur such as abdominal pain due to having nothing to digest and constipation.

• The endocrine system of our bodies may be deeply affected by anorexia nervosa.

The lack of nutrition can cause serious damage to the supplier of necessary hormones which are needed for the body to survive.

This eating disorder may be difficult to spot initially but as the individual loses weight and manifests more obvious symptoms, help can be applied.

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