There has been a sharp rise in the number of people suffering from an eating disorder, in both sexes. It is also something that is effecting people, particularly females, at an increasingly young age. This is especially concerning when you take into account it is very difficult to successfully treat anorexia and there is a comparatively high death rate compared to other disorders.
Anorexia causes a person to have an extremely skewed view of weight. Even if they are well below the normal BMI (body mass index) for their height, possibly clost to starving themselves to death, it is virtually impossible for them to look at their reflection and see themselves as anything other than fat. They may also have become emptionally dependent on the routines and rituals they have developed around food.
While anorexics will mainly control their weight through limiting their calorie intake, they may also use other means to reduce their weight even further. This includes exercising obsessively or using laxatives to purge themselves of even more food. Over time this sort of behaviour leads to severe malnutrition, which can cause problems such as brittle bones, hair loss, amenorrhea and impaired mental faculties such as logic, reasoning and memory. Since the heart is a muscle and muscles need nutrients and protein to function correctly, long term anorexia carries a high risk of death through heart failure.
There are personality traits that can identify people more at risk of developing an eating disorder, although personality alone rarely accounts entirely for why someone becomes anorexic. There are also outside factors such as stress, for instance intense pressure to do well in exams, or emotional problems, for example a result of persistent bullying, which may trigger the disorder in susceptible individuals. But sufferers are usually female, introverted, and with impossibly high expectations of themselves or a tendency towards perfectionism.
If you think you or a person you are close to might be in the early stages of an eating disorder, seek medical help straight away.
About the Author
Leanne is a contributing writer to a rhinoplasty site, which includes information about improving the appearance of a rhinoplasty scar and what to expect from the rhinoplasty healing process.