Anorexia Nervosa
Introduction
Anorexia Nervosa is an eating disorder and mental health condition. It means loss of appetite due to nerves. It involves lowering food intake, over exercising and can be life threatening. People suffering from anorexia may have distorted images of themselves, leading them to believe they’re overweight when they’re not. Often people suffering with the disorder attempt to hide their behaviour from the people close to them by lying about their eating patterns.
Anorexia is characterised by the body mass index being below a healthy number i.e. less than 17.5 in adults or 85% of the expected weight in children, a strong fear of putting on weight, the creation of rules regarding how much food is allowed and how much exercise needs to be done, sufferers perception of the ‘ideal’ weight being lower than it should. (Lein, 2013).
Who is effected
Anorexia affects all sorts of people. It is extremely common with about 1 in 20 teenagers getting it. Female anorexics outnumber males 10:1 and more than 90 percent of those who suffer with the disorder are adolescent and young adult women. It is suggested that the reason women in this age group are particularly vulnerable to eating disorders is because of their tendency to go on strict diets to achieve an "ideal" figure. Five to twenty percent of cases of anorexia nervosa leads to death, most cases from starvation, cardiac arrest, or suicide (Ohio State University, 2000s). However, all ages are affected and it has recently increased in males. (Newson, 2012). In men, the disorder is more often diagnosed in homosexuals than in heterosexuals. Experts believe that a number of people diagnosed with anorexia are severe cases and that many more people have anorexic tendencies but are not severe enough to be medically diagnosed (Answers, 2013).
Symptoms
Anorexia is a disorder which the cause is unknown. However, it is believed that there are a combination of causes which are psychological, environmental and biological
Anorexia Nervosa is an eating disorder and mental health condition. It means loss of appetite due to nerves. It involves lowering food intake, over exercising and can be life threatening. People suffering from anorexia may have distorted images of themselves, leading them to believe they’re overweight when they’re not. Often people suffering with the disorder attempt to hide their behaviour from the people close to them by lying about their eating patterns.
Anorexia is characterised by the body mass index being below a healthy number i.e. less than 17.5 in adults or 85% of the expected weight in children, a strong fear of putting on weight, the creation of rules regarding how much food is allowed and how much exercise needs to be done, sufferers perception of the ‘ideal’ weight being lower than it should. (Lein, 2013).
Who is effected
Anorexia affects all sorts of people. It is extremely common with about 1 in 20 teenagers getting it. Female anorexics outnumber males 10:1 and more than 90 percent of those who suffer with the disorder are adolescent and young adult women. It is suggested that the reason women in this age group are particularly vulnerable to eating disorders is because of their tendency to go on strict diets to achieve an "ideal" figure. Five to twenty percent of cases of anorexia nervosa leads to death, most cases from starvation, cardiac arrest, or suicide (Ohio State University, 2000s). However, all ages are affected and it has recently increased in males. (Newson, 2012). In men, the disorder is more often diagnosed in homosexuals than in heterosexuals. Experts believe that a number of people diagnosed with anorexia are severe cases and that many more people have anorexic tendencies but are not severe enough to be medically diagnosed (Answers, 2013).
Symptoms
Anorexia is a disorder which the cause is unknown. However, it is believed that there are a combination of causes which are psychological, environmental and biological
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