Eating Disorder Information

Eating disorder is a compulsion that the main problem is when a person eats in a certain way which disturbs their physical health. This person may eat too much, or eating much in long-time episodes. The must known eating disorders are Anorexia nervosa and Bulimia nervosa.

More then 50% of the eating disorders sufferers, have diagnosed as suffering from mental depression. Psychologists also discovered another types of eating dosorders, for example one of them is when a person sure that their are certain things that he can and cannot eat. Or another condition is when a person addicted and thinking that he must eat certain things. There are a lot of such a disorders, some are known and some are not discovered yet.

Pathogen is a micro-organizem that generate a disease. Psychlogists are now claiming that some of the eating problems are not always connected to mental disorders, more as lack of self-control.

Eating disorders cause serious helath problems but not that only. Peoples that sufferes from Anorexia or Bulimia have a mortality rate between 5% to 12% per decade, which is the higher rate than any other mental diseases.

Eating disorders also often cause to it sufferes to exprience psychological decompensation, it usually make them obsessed with food or diet. Another thing they are obsessed (usually with Anorexia nervosa or Bulimia nervosa) is their body image. In the professional language the distortion of body image is called ‘body dysmorphia’.

When looking at people that suffer from eating disorder, you usually see them as a victims, but in psychological view, you see them as a conscious actors. People who suffer from eating disorder isn’t seen as self-inflicted, but as much as the disease process, those people are attend to hide their abnormal behaviour from others. THey will usually won’t accept diagnosis and will refuse treatment.When giving a treatment to eating disorder sufferers, it can take decades. but the treatment for their mental health could be crucial for their lives.

Anorexia nervosa and Bulimia nervosa have many variations. An anorectic can eat, but restrict the amount he/she eats, or / and restrict hinself / herself to eat a specific food, they also might not eat nothing and cause themself to starving, while consuming nothing.

Woman are 90% precent of eating disorder cases.  In the old days this disease was considered as typical class. At the last years researchers have diagnosed an increase of eating disorder cases in the Asian and Hispanic populations, not at womans only, but at mens too.

Moreover these disorder is still usually prevalent in young teens.

Anorexia Nervosa and Bulimia are the two most common types of eating disorders that affect substantial number of population. This is particularly so, in a society that is obsessed with body image, and to be “thin” is “good “, and “sexy”. In United States alone, around 5-10 million people suffer from some type of eating disorder; with experts suggesting that around 1% of American teens suffer from an eating disorder.

Anorexia Nervosa, and Bulimia are very similar eating disorders, and at times may be difficult to distinguish an individual suffering from eating disorder. With both these disorders, the person might have a distorted image of their bodies, and show obsessive behavior towards food. Both these disorders typically affect girls, but boys are at an equal risk, and there is no data to suggest that it is a girl’s disease. Around 10% of people suffering from these diseases are boys, and men, and this figure might also be distorted, as there is a higher chance of the disease going unrecognized in men. While women with such eating disorder tend to focus more on looking thin, men will focus more on their athletic appearance.

People with Anorexia Nervosa have a particular fear of getting fat. Thus food becomes an obsession, and such a person just tries to avoid eating at all. A person suffering from this disorder might constantly measure, and weigh their food intake, and indulge in heavy exercising to lose weight. This trend continues even though the person might be losing weight at dangerous speed, and is underweight.

Bulimia is a bit different as the person does avoid food altogether, but shows a typical behavior of “binge, and purge”. This involves eating huge amounts of food, and then quickly getting rid of it artificially, by self-induced vomiting, or by the use of laxatives. People suffering from Bulimia don’t show visible signs of the disorder like people suffering from Anorexia Nervosa (extreme weight loss), and might be of average weight, or even above average weight.

However, a person that is being affected by these disorders will show some signs that are not very hard to notice. Some of these for Anorexia are:

* Weighing at least 20% below normal. * Always denies feeling hungry. * Indulge in excessive exercising routines, at obsessive levels. * Constant feeling of becoming fat, even if the person is underweight. * Withdrawal from social activities.

Some of the obvious signs in a person suffering from Bulimia are:

* Goes to the bathroom immediately after meals. * Eats lots of food, but doesn’t seem to gain weight. * High use of laxatives. * Withdrawal from social activities.

If some friends or family members show this kind of behavior, chances are he/she might be suffering from an eating disorder. Denial is a common thing in these disorders, and these disorders should be seen as diseases, and the person should be tagged as sick. Such disorders originate from the brain, and there is enough help available.

Anorexia Nervosa

Anorexia Nervosa is an eating disorder that is spreading widely and it is often not easy to spot its symptoms. It is difficult to identify because other symptoms tend to accompany Anorexia. For instance, there might be signs of stress, anxiety and depression in the person, who is affected by Anorexia. It may appear as some normal negative phase to an outside observer but in fact an inner struggle goes on inside the patient who is very serious. So if you know someone, who is affected by this illness, then there is a lot you can do to solve his or her problem.

Commonly Anorexia Nervosa is diagnosed in young women, who are very conscious about their looks and appearance. But in reality this disorder can affect anyone. It is a very serious problem, which happens due to the sufferer’s unhealthy fear of gaining additional pounds. They start limiting the amount of food they eat, so that they remain thin and Anorexia overpowers due to this unhealthy body image, coupled with the obsession to control eating excessive food. An Anorexic loses a lot of weight and his or her body is distorted. They keep complaining about how fat they are becoming, even though everyone can see that they are becoming underweight with every passing day. Due to the insufficient sustenance and loss in weight, they suffer headache and starts experiencing fatigue and lightheadedness. They not only get sick but their immune system also starts getting weaker. Because of this, they are always seen suffering with digestive problems, cold and fever and various other common health problems.

Because the Anorexic has an unhealthy relationship with food, they manifest in several ways. They keep on complaining about digestive problems, so that they can avoid having food. Struggle to finish one meal and get worse. Anorexics also start refusing to attend social gathering. Anyone who suffers from Anorexia witnesses a drastic change in his or her personality. This means that they are transformed from happy and cheerful person to a depressed and negative person. The use of diet pill can also be considered as one symptom of Anorexia. Diet pills are used a lot by Anorexics in order to increase the bowel movements and urination. If you have an Anorexic patient at home, then make sure that all the communication channels are open, so that you can talk to him or her to solve the problem. Make sure that they get immediate medical assistance and convince the patient to join an Anorexic Nervosa treatment center, where they will get constant treatment and support from therapists.

The publicity that anorexia has received is tremendous in the last few years, with an increasing number of teenagers falling prey to this deadly disease. To identify a victim of Anorexia is quite difficult, since the disease shows symptoms of other problems as well. For instance, a victim of Anorexia shows signs of depression, bad mood, anxiety etc. To a bystander this would seem to be normal just with the notion that the person is having a real bad day. However, it is only the sufferer that knows of the stress and severity of the struggle they are going through. If a loved one is suffering from Anorexia one has to be careful about approaching the subject with them. The first step is to identify the problem. The article here lists a few ways to identify a possible victim of this terrible disease.

A point to be remembered is that both young men and women are prone to being affected by Anorexia, though women are more highly susceptible. Anorexia is more of an eating disorder that the victim suffers from because of the constant fear of gaining weight. Though unhealthy, it first begins by keeping a regular watch on the amount of food they eat so that they cannot gain weight. This is also coupled with a strict schedule of exercises that leads to burning of fat and an obsessive compulsion to remain thin. This slowly leads to an unhealthy body image and then gradually moves to anorexia. A clear indication of a victim of anorexia is absolutely low bodyweight, with a display of fears to gaining weight. The description of their body is always vague since they have a different view on their body image. Anorexia victims are continuously cribbing of how they overweight they are when it can be clearly seen that they are tremendously underweight. Anorexia sufferers are always prone to ill health since they have low resistance and blood count. They experience chronic headaches, easily fatigued, light headiness etc. and a weak immune system, which increases their chances of getting fevers, colds, and other ailments.

The unhealthy relationship between food and the anorexia sufferer is evident in a variety of ways. They fake digestive problems to avoid eating, struggle to complete a meal, avoid social gathering with a good display of food and lots of other weird habits. The physical attributes of an Anorexia sufferer are quite repulsive from pale skin, sunken eyes, etc while other behavior is also erratic like acute mood swings, anxiety, depression, and a tendency to remain withdrawn. Following these as guidelines it is easy to identify a victim of Anorexia.

Treatment for Anorexia Nervosa

Eating disorder can be very fatal if not treated and it is important that everyone eats nutritious and well-balanced food. There are several ways in which a person suffering from anorexia nervosa can receive treatment and thousands have recovered from this eating disorder problem. Recovery is basically a process where the patient has to start eating to become healthy.

Many treatment centers for Anorexia nervosa treat patients by looking into various aspects of the eating disorder and when a person receives this treatment is also the time when he or she realizes the cause to this problem and starts reasoning. This self-realization aspect is one of the important phases of eating disorder treatment for Anorexia.

There are various Anorexia Nervosa treatment options and the Internet has a plethora of information on such programs. But beware, before you look into such eating disorder programs, you should always understand the underlying cause of it and then adopt a treatment program. People suffering from anorexia may have a distorted body shape and think that she or he is fat, start wearing baggy clothes, check weight many times in a day and harbor the fear of being obese. Anorexia patents sometimes don’t act normal and they generally talk all the time about food and weight. They also suffer from mood swings and wish to be left alone.

A team of doctors handles anorexia treatment; therapists and nutritionists who help the patient recover faster. They help him or her to understand and learn healthy eating habits and how to cope with the thought of gaining weight. During outpatient care anorexia patients receive treatment through home visits along with members of their health care team. Some patients who are suffering critically may need hospitalization where they may have to stay in hospital for some days. After the hospitalization, the patient may have to continue treatment under supervision.

Bulimia Nervosa

Bulimia nervosa is a very common eating disorder. People suffering from bulimia binge and purge in a continuous, harmful cycle. They may eat extreme amounts of food at one time and then they force their bodies to get rid of the food by vomiting, taking excessive amounts of laxatives, or by doing extreme, very strenuous exercise.

Bulimics are obsessed with their body weight and their image. They want to be ?perfect? and want to have the bodies that they see all around them in movies, magazines, and all over in society today. Even if they are a perfectly normal weight, they see themselves as being fat and develop bulimia in an effort to change their self image. Even if they are not overweight and even if they become underweight they still see themselves negatively and will continue to binge and purge.

Bulimia has been linked closely with other psychiatric conditions. Most bulimics suffer from depression. Others have anxiety issues. Some have very low self-esteem and no matter how pretty people tell them they are, they just do not believe it. Bulimia also shares some other signs and symptoms with the other most common eating disorder, anorexia nervosa.

Bulimia Nervosa Causes

There is no known cause of bulimia nervosa. There is a lot speculation about what some of the possible contributing factors are. However, nothing has been proven to cause it. Experts are unable to determine exactly why some people suffer from this disorder. They have found some common links to people with bulimia nervosa though.

Hereditary factors and family history appear to play a role in the development of bulimia nervosa. People that have family members with bulimia are at a higher risk of developing it. However, this is only part of the cause and does not always hold true. There are some individuals that have family members with bulimia and they never develop the condition themselves. At the same time, there can be no family history of the disorder and someone can get bulimia.

Another factor that is believed to play a role in developing bulimia is environmental and cultural issues. In this day and age there are skinny, beautiful people everywhere. Models in magazines and on TV portray a very thin image. Thinness is constantly being forced down our throats. We see it everywhere. People see this as the way to be. They want that so called perfect image strive to get it. This often involves turning to bulimia because the individual does not think that they are thin enough or pretty enough.

Bulimia Nervosa Diagnosis

There are a variety of signs and symptoms that can be used to diagnose bulimia nervosa. A bulimic patient can show some of these signs or maybe all of them depending on the conditions. There are no specific requirements that say a patient needs to have all of the symptoms or that you can?t have other symptoms that are not mentioned here.

One of the classic signs in diagnosing bulimia nervosa is continuous binge eating. Patients may eat extremely large amounts of food. Bulimics can sometimes feel that they have no control over their eating. There are instances of bingeing at least two times a week and has been on for at least three months in order to make a clear diagnosis of bulimia. There are also signs of secretive eating and unexplained food runs. Bulimics tend to binge in secret and try to keep their problem hidden from others.

Bulimia Nervous Disorder

Each year more and more people are getting affected by bulimia nervosa disorder. Mostly women (almost 90% of the cases) are found to be affected by bulimia. The major reason why women are particularly vulnerable to eating disorders such as bulimia nervosa is because of their tendency to go on strict diets to achieve the perfect figure. Studies have given results that such diet plans is the main cause in triggering bulimia.

There are severe consequences to health ? both physical and mental. Increasing awareness of the dangers of bulimia has led many people to seek help. But most bulimics refuse to admit that they have a problem and should go for treatment. Bulimia disorder is an illness is featured by episodes of uncontrolled bingeing or eating and then purging their body of the extra food through vomiting, laxative drugs, or diuretic medications. Individuals with binge eating disorder often eat too much food, do not stop eating unless they feel that they are totally full, got a history of fluctuations in body weight and face more difficulties losing weight and keeping it off as compared to patients suffering from other serious weight issues.

Bulimia Nervosa Effects

Bulimia effects vary from patient to patient and are wide in range. In addition, many bulimia effects are somewhat different as compared to other eating disorders’ effects.

Bulimia nervosa generally starts when somebody is told by others that it is a simple way to lose and control the body weight. This disorder can begin at a very young age. Bulimics can be under the impression that they can take anything and in any amount but never gain even one extra pound! The effects are very dangerous and in fact, they may be substantially life-threatening. If someone is labeled with such eating disorder then they are supposed to take very great amounts of high calorie foods hastily and then after that, then just throw it out, take some diuretics, or laxatives to get rid of the food from the intestines.

Bulimia Nervosa facts

Bulimia Nervosa calls for frequent episodes of binge eating, generally accompanied with purging and intense feeling of guilt or embarrassment. The affected person is totally out of control and knows that the behavior is certainly okay!. At such times it’s very important that the near and dear ones identify the symptoms and provide support to the affected bulimic persons in their road to recovery.

Bulimia nervosa signs by which one can identify includes the following factors such as bingeing, or eating without any control, purging by strict diet, fast, strenuous exercises, vomiting or taking too much laxatives or diuretics in an order to shed off extra pounds from the body, using the bathroom often after having meals, engrossment with body weight , depression or swigging of mood, irregular menses, developing dental issues, inflamed salivary glands, heartburn and/or bloating, facing personal or family issues with alcohol or drug in any form.

Bulimia Nervosa Information

Bulimia nervosa is a serious disorder to the physical as well as mental faculties and occurs due to constant bouts of binging and purging. Bulimia Nervosa first came into definition by Gerald Russell (1979), a British Psychiatrist. Bulimia nervosa is a very common eating disorder but most of the patients and their family members are not aware of the far reaching consequences of this disease.

There are mainly two types of bulimics which can be defined as purging and non purging ones. Binge eating is done by both groups. But when the time comes for either to get the food out of the body, the purging ones do so with the methods such as forced vomiting, using laxatives etc. The non purging ones, on the other hand, take the route of over exercising or fasting excessively to lose the fat they acquired through the binge eating. Either of these methods is very harmful not only to the physical part but also the mental health of the bulimic and constant care should be taken to prevent the further onset of the disorder.

Bulimia Nervosa signs, symptoms and treatment

Bulimia nervosa is featured by very frequent episodes to eat, from two times a week to several times in a day. This is then followed by mad efforts to keep away the probable weight gain. Statistics say that during an average binge, the sufferer may consume anything between 3500-4500 calories in just an hour!

The key features of bulimia nervosa include regular episodes of uncontrolled binge eating; incompatible behavior of preventing the weight gain. Also, the self-regard is severely influenced by body’s weight and its look.

There are two types of bulimia, discerned by the techniques patients use to extract the food from their body ? purging and non purging bulimia. In the first type bulimia, the purging bulimia, there is the physical purge the food from the body. In the non- purging type of bulimia, this is quite less and not so common, bulimics try to set the issue by fasting, exercising to excess and many more.