A. What is it (definition)?

Anorexia, or its full name anorexia nervosa, is an eating disorder characterized by refusal to eat enough to maintain a normal body. Anorexia literally means loss of appetite, but that isnt necessarily accurate. People with anorexia are hungry and they typically have a normal appetite, but they deny their hunger and starve themselves. The essential features of anorexia nervosa are: - The individual refuses to maintain a minimally normal body weight. - The individual is intensely afraid of gaining weight. - The individual exhibits an insecure (and many times inaccurate) perception of the shape or size of his or her body. B. How do you get it? Are you born with it or is it triggered by an event? You are not born with anorexia, but genetics is a factor for the disorder. (It occurs eight times more often in people who have relatives with anorexia.) There is no single cause for anorexia, but it can be triggered by many different things. First of all, culture can play a part. In media such as television, movies, and magazines, you rarely ever see an overweight celebrity. This can give people the mindset that being thin is desirable. Anorexia can also be caused by your environment. If a person is being bullied about his or her weight or someone just makes a casual comment about a persons physical shape, it could cause that person to start dieting and spiral out of control with their determination to lose weight. Many anorexics are perfectionists and this personality trait causes them to strive to be thin. However, no matter how many pounds they lose, it is never enough for them and it becomes an obsession. A lot of anorexics are unhappy because they are experiencing stress or problems in their life so they start starving themselves as a way of filling the void that unhappiness left. A sufferer of anorexia explained this by saying, Other things in your life arent working, and [starving is] the one thing you have control over. And thats a major thing. I think thats what keeps a lot of these people in this anorexic mode. Its control. Nobody else can control that for you. Most anorexics have very low self esteem and they are insecure, which causes them to hate things about themselves, including their weight and body. Many people with anorexia also have chemical imbalances with their body. This is bad because the body needs certain chemicals and nutrients in order to function normally. However, experts are not sure if the chemical imbalances cause the eating disorder or if the eating disorder causes the imbalances. C. Who does it affect (male/female, young/old, race/ethnicity)? Anyone can get anorexia, though it is more common in females. About ninety percent of people with anorexia are female, but the number of male anorexics is rising. Most cases of anorexia are found in western cultures, notably Europe and the United States. The disorder is found in whites more than any other race. It is more common among middle- and upper-class families than the poor. Teenagers are at the greatest risk for anorexia. Eighty-five percent of anorexia occurs before the age twenty. One percent of teen girls in the United States have anorexia. It occurs more often in people who are involved in activities or careers such as athleticism, gymnastics, dancing, skating, modeling, and acting where people place a high value on looking thin and fit. D. What are the signs (you can see)? Some signs of anorexia are: - Loose hair - Dropping below twenty-five percent of ideal body weight - Growing fine hair

Osteoporosis Dry, brittle hair that falls out in clumps Dry skin Heart problems Organ damage When the individual stops eating or has a notably lower appetite Weight loss No physical body strength Jaundiced skin Excessive body hair Stunted growth Infertility Stop in menstruation cycle Bones starved of calcium When the individual becomes preoccupied with exercise Sleeping irregularities/insomnia When the individual is often cold when others are not Low blood pressure Dark circles under eyes Strange or secretive food rituals (Some examples of this is refusing to eat in public, cutting up food in a specific way, or using a special plate.) E. What are the symptoms (the person feels)? Some symptoms of anorexia are: - Depression - Anxiety - Preoccupation with food (This means that people with anorexia sometimes constantly think about food, going so far as cooking for others, collecting recipes, reading food magazines, or making meal plans.) - Feeling detached from the people the individual is close to/withdrawal - Moodiness - Fatigue - Afraid of gaining weight - Flat mood/lack of emotion - Denial of hunger F. Can you prevent it? Yes, you can prevent anorexia! You can prevent it by developing a healthy perspective of weight and a persons body image. By not developing unrealistic expectations of yourself, you may be able to prevent having the disorder. You shouldnt judge yourself against the standard of beauty put forth in magazines, movies, and television because very few people are as perfect as they look in print or on film. Another way to prevent anorexia is reading books and articles about eating disorders. By informing yourself, you will learn how harmful anorexia can be and will be able to make informed choices about ways to prevent it. You should not hang out with a crowd of people who involve themselves with excessive dieting, bingeing, or purging. If you do not run in those circles, you might not be pressured or tempted to try what theyre doing. Only buy clothes that fit well. Clothes that are too tight are bound to make you feel overweight even if youre not. Buying clothes that you plan on

getting into is not a good idea, because you may not ever achieve that size. Eat when youre hungry instead or forcing yourself to eat when youre not and dont let anyone else force you either because ignoring what your body is telling you can make you more susceptible to falling victim to an eating disorder. Lastly, be happy with yourself! G. Can you cure it? Even though many treatment methods have helped anorexics recover and go on to live healthy lives, there is no cure for anorexia because it is a very complex disorder with deep psychological and physiological root. H. How do you treat it? In a study of the disease, Dr. Wayne A. Bowers and Dr. Arnold E. Andersen reported that successful treatment of anorexia is a pragmatic blend of medical management, weight restoration, psycho educational intervention, psychotherapy (individual, group, and family), and, at times pharmacotherapy (the medical term of using medicine to treat an illness). The first step in getting help for anorexics is realizing and admitting they have a problem. The sooner they can do that, the better. There is a better chance of long term recovery if they receive early treatment. If a person seeks help after years of dealing with the disorder, they are more likely to require repeated hospitalization. Typically, treatment involves a psychiatrist, psychologist, a specialist such as a gastroenterologist (a doctor that works with stomach and intestinal problems), dietary professional, social workers, occupational therapist, and nurses. There are outpatient care and inpatient care (hospitalization) for anorexia. If the anorexic is hospitalized, it can involve tube feeding and total bed rest. The person may have to start on a liquid diet and then progress to a diet that begins at 1500 to 2000 calories a day and increases. Eventually, its hoped that the patient receives 3500 to 500 calories a day. Weight is monitored. While medicine is sometimes used to help cure an anorexic, no drug has been found to treat the overall illness directly. The medication can help relieve some symptoms of the disease, such as an antidepressant. In psychological treatment, therapists must establish a healthy attitude about weight and physical appearance so the person does not return to starvation. They must explore the causes of the anorexics low self esteems and deal with why the person has negative associations with foods. The therapist has to teach him or her facts about nutrition and body weight. The goal is to make the anorexic understand that his or her obsession with weight control is unreasonable and harmful; the person must realize they have a problem. Anorexia is a very hard disease to treat and many people recover only to start starving themselves again. It is an uphill battle and treatment certainly takes time. I. 1 interesting fact Anorexia can shrink the brain.