The Effect Of Anorexia On Its Victims

Anorexia patients can attest to the long-term consequences of this disease. The issues of weight and nutrition deficits overshadow the systemic and psychological issues that weigh heavily on patients during their recovery periods. Anorexia is commonly seen as a disorder in white, affluent teenage girls and young women, and in fact up to 90% of anorexics are female, where the onset of symptoms typically occurs between ages 11 and 20. Anorexia has been diagnosed in children as young as 7 and even in middle-aged and elderly women. Anorexia is now being seen in foreign countries that receive American television, so the cultural ideal of thinness is a potent catalyst.

Anorexia is the most common eating disorder of today, however if you look at any eating disorder statistic you'll find don't seem that alarming, since the actual number of anorexia sufferers can never be determined precisely. Anorexia Nervosa is a condition where a person starves themselves and/or exercises excessively, to the point of where their body suffers from the symptoms and complications of severe malnutrition. The symptoms and effects of Anorexia are very similar as with people who suffer from malnutrition due to famine. In an effort to avoid eating and meals, anorexics will often claim that they already ate, are eating later, or are not hungry. They often rearrange their food on their plate or secretly throw food out in order to make it look like they have eaten.

Anorexics have trouble interacting with others because they don't believe when someone tells them they are too thin. One of the symptoms of anorexia that many people can't comprehend is that someone with this disease has a distorted perception of what they look like. Anorexics can severely impair vital body organs, such as the heart and kidneys, often permanently. People with anorexia usually have a strong will, eat very little nutrient, and carefully detail the gram calories of their meals.

Anorexia may be especially deadly for women with insulin dependent diabetes, if they change insulin dosages to lose weight can be very dangerous and life-threatening. While this condition is psychological in nature, the effects of anorexia can be detrimental to a person's health as well.

Anorexia nervosa can cause severe bone loss, and no treatment has thus far been documented to successfully improve bone mass in this population. Pancreatitis and baldness can also be a consequence of anorexia. Anorexia Nervosa has many factors that contribute to it, including mental, physical, emotional, and social aspects. It is believed that anorexia may reflect socio-economic factors more than racial factors.