Anorexia Nervosa Research Paper

Anorexia has dangerous effects on the body and the mind. It has the highest rate of death of any mental illness. Between 5% and 20% of people who develop the disease eventually die from it (Lee, 2008). It may start as simple dieting, but can quickly roller coaster out of control such as not eating at all. The person’s main focus is food, dieting, and the fear of weight gain. Others see them as being very thin but they themselves see a distorted fat image when they look in the mirror.

Anorexia nervosa is an eating disorder that consists of self-regulated food restriction in which the person strives for thinness and also involves distortion of the way the person sees his or her own body. An anorexic person weighs less than 85% of their ideal body weight. The prevalence of eating disorders is between .5-1% of women aged 15-40 and about 1/20 of this number occurs in men. Anorexia affects all aspects of an affected person's life including emotional health, physical health, and relationships with others (Shekter-Wolfson et al 5-6). A study completed in 1996 showed that anorexics also tend to possess traits that are obsessive in nature and carry heavy emotional

Before treatment can begin, anorexic clients must undergo assessments that ensure they are physically capable of outpatient treatment. If these individuals are not ready for outpatient treatment, they must undergo hospitalization to stabilize their condition. For those clients who pass medical examinations, and are good candidates for outpatient care, it remains necessary for a physician and dietitian to be involved with treatment (Bowers, 2002). This ensures the client is cared for in a holistic manner by addressing “nutritional rehabilitation, possibly medical stabilization, and psychological interventions” (Bowers, 2002, p. 249). This multidimensional approach ensures the client’s physical wellbeing is addressed, in

With Anorexia Nervosa, there is a strong fear of weight gain and a preoccupation with body image. Those diagnosed may show a resistance in maintaining body weight or denial of their illness. Additionally, anorexics may deny their hunger, have eating rituals such as excessive chewing and arranging food on a plate, and seek privacy when they are eating. For women, they go through immediate body changes from abnormal to no menstruation periods and develop lanugo all over their bodies. Characteristics of an anorexic individual also consist of extreme exercise patterns, loosely worn clothing, and maintain very private lives. Socially, to avoid criticism or concern from others, they may distant themselves from friends and activities they once enjoyed. Instead, their primary concerns revolve around weight loss, calorie intake, and dieting. In regards to health, many will have an abnormal slow heart rate and low blood pressure, some can develop osteoporosis, severe dehydration which can result in kidney failure, and overall feel weak (Robbins, 27-29). It has been reported that Anorexia Nervosa has one of the highest death rates in any mental health condition in America (www.NationalEatingDisorders.org).

Anorexia Nervosa Eating illnesses such as anorexia, bulimia, and binge eating sickness; contain life-threatening feelings, attitudes, and actions surrounding heaviness and diet problems. Eating ailments are severe expressive and physical difficulties that can have lethal penalties for females and males. Anorexia nervosa comprise of insufficient food consumption leading to a heaviness that is evidently too little, Strong terror of weight expansion, fixation with weight and determined performance to stop weight gain, Confidence excessively connected to body appearance, and incapability to appreciate the harshness of the condition.

Anorexia nervosa is an eating disorder that affects about 0.5 to 1 percent of women in the United States today. ("Anorexia Nervosa | National Eating Disorders Association") While, that may not seem like a lot of people are suffering from Anorexia nervosa it has received a significant amount of attention due to the consequences of developing this disorder. For example, it is reported that five to twenty percent of people who have Anorexia Nervosa will eventually succumb to their condition and die prematurely. ("Anorexia Nervosa | National Eating Disorders Association") Even those who do recover from Anorexia can develop other consequences as a result of this eating disorder. Muscle loss, amenorrhea, reduced bone density, and abnormally slow heart rate and low blood pressure. The abnormally slow heart rate and low blood pressure tend to show that this means that the heart is changing which puts the person at an increased risk for heart failure. ("Anorexia Nervosa | National Eating Disorders Association")

?Anorexia nervosa, as we know, is a psychological disorder that is defined as the “loss of appetite”. Although the disease is rare and dramatic, in 2007 it was only “affecting about 1% of women and 0.3% of men”(Cacioppo and Freberg, 2013, p.302). Those percentages are low but can equate to a large number of Americans. The biological dangers of anorexia can be very large, including the possibility of death. The disorder carries many symptoms such as low body weight, dry and yellow skin, increased sensitivity to cold, a distorted image of oneself, cardiovascular and gastrointestinal problems.

Today in society it is founded that Anorexia Nervosa is of most common disorders that affect multiples of women and men across the country. The DSM-V at 307.1 (F50.01) (F50.02) finds Anorexia Nervosa to be a persistent restriction of energy intake leading to significantly low body weight, as related to minimally expected for age, sex, developmental trajectory, and physical health. The DSM-V also finds the criteria of Anorexia Nervosa to be an intense fear of gaining weight or becoming fat, persistent behavior that interferes with weight gain, the disturbance in the way one’s body weight or shape is experienced, the undue influence of body shape and weight of self-evaluation, or persistent lack of recognition of the seriousness of the current

Anorexia nervosa is a severe mental illness which carries mental, physical and psychological consequences. It is often characterised by low body weight and image distortion, along with obsessive concerns and fears about the gaining of weight.(1) This constant anxiety of weight gain manifests itself through the deprivation of food and excessive exercise. Anorexia Nervosa can broken down further into the restricting type where weight loss is achieved through the restriction of calories,(2) or the purging type where vomiting, laxatives and diuretics(2) are used to gain the similar outcomes. Both of these types have severe impacts on an individuals health and knowledge of the symptoms, care and impacts it has is imperative.

Self-esteem is reliant upon body shape and weight. Physical implications may include disruption of the menstrual cycle also known as amenorrhea, signs of starvation, thinning of hair or hair loss, bloated, yellowish palms/soles of feet, dry and pasty skin. The risks that people take while indulging in anorexia can also become physiologically and mentally damaging. There are several effective treatments. One of which is hospitalization, this occurs when the weight loss is greater than 30% in 3 months time. Some other effects to be taken into consideration when hospitalizing a patient are the risk of suicide and depression, severe binging and purging, and serious metabolic disturbance. Therapy and counseling is used to help the patients with depression and family complications that may have led to the state they’re in. Clinical studies have not yet identified a medication that could improve the core symptoms of anorexia.

Another long-term study was performed in which 84 patients were monitored after their first time being hospitalized due to them having Anorexia Nervosa. It was found that almost half of the patients reached full recovery, 10.4% met the same criteria for Anorexia Nervosa, and that 15.6% had died from anorexia reasons.(8) The part of the study that is of main interest is in regards to those who died from anorexia causes, as many of the causes of deaths were biologically and psychologically related. The causes of death for the 12 patients included bronchial pneumonia (infection of the bronchioles), sepsis, dehydration, electrolyte imbalance, and suicide.(8) Many people would expect that those who suffer from Anorexia Nervosa would typically

In a culture increasingly focused on the problem of obesity in the United States and other countries, many people forget about the other side of the weight spectrum. According to the American Obesity Association, 65% of adults and 30% of children are overweight, and 30% of adults and 15% of children meet the criteria for obesity (Derenne & Beresin, 2006). The rate of eating disorders, however, has also increased significantly over the past fifty years (Polivy & Herman, 2002). In fact, eating disorders rank among the top ten leading causes of disability in women (Striegel-Moore & Bulik, 2007). The two most prevalent of which are anorexia nervosa and bulimia

An Eating Disorder: "Anorexia Nervosa" Eating disorder is a type of disease that causes the individual suffering from it to have an irregular eating patterns and anguishes over their body shape and weight. The eating disorder can be classified into three major types of specific diseases, such as anorexia nervosa, bulimia nervosa, and binge eating disorder. Anorexia nervosa is an eating disorder that can arise from biological and environmental factors, which is detected through several symptoms and can be treated with medication and

In our culture today, people concerned with the way they look to a high extent, how much they weight, their physical appearances and how to change a body part they do not like. Anorexia nervosa and bulimia nervosa are eating disorders that affect a person’s weight to an extreme due to wanting to be thinner when in reality they are already thin to the bone. Both disorders have their similarities and differences from their main obsession of body weight to how they try to lose it.

We must also consider the effects of anorexia. People with anorexia experience hair loss and fingernail breakage. Women who suffer will begin to have period loss. Those who continue to be anorexic without getting help can become anemic and even begin to develop very brittle bones. Anorexia is a serious medical illness, and with severe malnutrition anorexia can also cause death.