What is Anorexia - Causes, Symptoms and Effects?

Anorexia or Anorexia nervosa is an eating disorder that affects 1 to 2% of women. This disease mainly affects girls from 12 to 20 years old, but can appear as early as 9 or 10 years old. Boys are less affected, as 9 out of 10 anorexic patients are girls. Anorexia results in an obsession with weight loss resulting in severe dietary restrictions. Often, these restrictions are accompanied by intense physical activities to lose weight along with obsessive fear of getting fatter. The desire for thinness can lead to other abnormal behaviours such as binge eating, use of laxatives and diuretics, vomiting and more. Other psychological disorders such as anxiety, depression, withdrawal, addictions to drugs or alcohol and even suicidal tendencies may also occur. Many a time, teenage girls may have aberrant eating behaviours that will disappear as quickly as they appeared, the said cannot be classified as Anorexia nervosa. Anorexia is to be feared when the disorder becomes chronic in nature and lasts over a large number of meals. Despite the visibility of symptoms, anorexia is rarely supported in its early days. It often takes two to three years before the first consultation. With Anorexia, the patient seldom sounds the alarm because she is in denial of her pathology. She does not recognize herself as ill, the loss of weight that signs her disorder does not bother her, quite the contrary she relishes the same. As for the family, most often, they do not see the seriousness of the symptoms and tries to minimize the troubles hoping that it will pass over time. But anorexia does not disappear on its own.  

Symptoms and Causes of Anorexia

Physically, this disease results in extreme weight loss of up to 50% of normal weight. The food deprivation will obviously have other consequences on the body such as insomnia, hair loss, permanent tiredness, feeling cold, loss of memory and more. The more intense the deprivations, the more brutal the consequences would be. These disturbances can in the long term even threaten the life of the person. The causes of Anorexia are still poorly identified. Some experts believe that the root cause is metabolic or genetic in nature, whereas others believe it to be psychological in nature. Clinically, the symptoms of anorexia are easy to identify. First there is a weight loss, which can go up to a loss of 15 or 20% of the initial weight. A girl of 55 kilos can lose 8 kilos or more. Obviously, it does not happen overnight. An anorexic teenager eats less, skips meals, refuses certain food items and avoids family food tables. Losing weight is socially well regarded and thus a source of congratulations and encouragement. This in turn induces the patient with a feeling of achievement and power, in fact the more she loses weight, the better she feels.

Treatments for Anorexia

 In cases of Anorexia, outside help is usually needed. The main difficulty is often the refusal of treatment. In fact, these teenagers do not consider themselves as sick and reject specialized consultations or institutional follow-up. This refusal is a real problem because anorexia must be treated as soon as possible. The more the disorder sets in, the more harmful eating behaviour becomes. The treatment usually consists of a psychotherapy which will allow an expert to engage in a dialogue with the teenager. A general practitioner then ensures, in parallel, the follow-up of the weight and the state of health. In severe cases, hospitalization is often necessary. This break with the family environment is sometimes beneficial; it allows the girl to form other relationships. Unfortunately, the various treatments for anorexia have limited effectiveness, in one third of cases, teenagers return to normal life. For another third, the healing remains incomplete, with the persistence of a low weight, psychological disorders and risks of relapse. For the last third, the problem of anorexia persists and requires on-going care. Finally, it is important to know that about 10% of anorexics die as a result of their illness, either through under nutrition or suicide.