A Look Into the World of Anorexia Essay

Incidences of Anorexia Nervosa have appeared to increase sharply in the USA, UK and western European countries since the beginning of the 60s (Gordon, 2001). The increasing prevalence of the disease has led the World Health Organisation to declare eating disorders a global priority area within adolescent mental health (Becker et al. 2011). Anorexia has in many ways become a modern epidemic (Gordon, 2000) and with a mortality rate of 10% per decade (Gorwood et al. 2003), the highest of any mental disorder (Bulik et al. 2006), it is an epidemic that social and biological scientists have been working tirelessly to understand.

Eating disorder is the abnormal eating behavior that would negatively impact one’s health, emotions and ability to function in important areas of life. Eating disorders include several categories: binge eating disorder, which means people eat large amount in a short period, anorexia nervosa which people eat very little, bulimia nervosa which people eat a lot and then try to rid themselves of food, pica which people eat non-food items, rumination disorder means people regurgitate food, avoidant food intake means that people have a lack of interest in food, and other specified eating disorders (ANAD). There is believed to be no single cause for eating disorders, as all the biological, psychological, and sociocultural factors contribute to this illness. Studies have shown that specific chromosomes may be associated with bulimia and anorexia (NY times). Eating disorders may also be caused by imbalance of serotonin and dopamine which explain why people who have anorexia

At present, these eating disorders have an effect on roughly 25 million Americans, of which almost 25% are of the male gender. Out of all the psychological disorders, anorexia has the highest mortality rate. The whys and wherefores include malnourishment, substance abuse and reckless suicides. Eating disorders can happen to anyone; no matter whether they’re male or female, rich or poor, old or young. According to many researchers, eating disorders are caused by more than just food. There are numerous

Whether it is the study of biopsychology and other fields of psychology or neuroscience, all psychologists and scientists are trying to understand the functions of the brain. The body and mind connection and how it reacts to certain behaviors or illnesses. Most all psychological functioning can be reduced to underlying brain processes. This should serve as reason alone as to why biology plays an important part in the study of psychology. Psychological factors play a role in whether a person develops a mental illness and in how well they recover from a mental illness, yet biological and genetic risk factors, or predispositions, are

Anorexia Nervosa is the condition when an individual abstains from food in order to lose weight or prevent more weight gain. In the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders IV(DSM-IV) there are four aspects of criteria to be diagnosed with anorexia: a refusal to maintain weight above what is minimally normal for one’s age and height, and extreme fear of weight gain, distorted body image, and (in females) having amenorrhea(missing three or more consecutive menstrual cycles.)(DSM-IV, 2000:589) Anorexia not only affects weight, but also alters bone growth, neurotransmitters and hormones in the brain, and electrolytes.

There was a study conducted in 2005 that used rats and PET scans in order to better understand the neurological aspects of anorexia. (Barbarich-Marsteller, Marsteller, Alexoff, Fowler, & Dewey, 2005) They wanted to see if chronic food restriction would decrease 2-deoxy-2-fluoro-D-glucose (FDG) they were comparing this to the cerebral glucose hypometabolism in people who had anorexia nervosa. (Barbarich-Marsteller et al., 2005) For this study, the researchers used nine female rats that were six to seven weeks old. They allowed the rats one week to get accustomed to their new home and then during the second week the rats were randomly assigned to one of two groups. The control group had as much food as they wanted for twenty-five days, but the group that was having their food restricted received forty percent of the food they had eaten during the first week until they had lost thirty percent of their body weight. . (Barbarich-Marsteller et al., 2005) The researchers then tried to get the rats to maintain this weight. As another factor of this study, only the food restricted group had free range to a running wheel. . (Barbarich-Marsteller et al.,

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

Park et al (1995) were important in discovering a biological link with anorexia. Park et

Anorexia is defined as a eating disorder, or loss of appetite to maintain a ideal weight. (Ref). While anorexia is more common in females with reporting that more than 6 million women yearly suffer from anorexia nervosa, and bulimia. (National Association of Anorexia and Associated Disorders, 2000). However, even though anorexia is more common in females, than males it has been reported that more than one million men suffer from this disease as well. (National Association of Anorexia and Associated Disorders, 2000).In my paper we learn about the difference and similarities between male and female anorexia, the rise of male anoxria, and treatment.

Anorexia nervosa and bulimia are eating disorders that severely affect both men and women around the world. The cause of the eating disorder usually derives from psychological, biological and social forces. Eating disorders have become an epidemic in American society, twenty-four million people of all ages and genders suffer from an eating disorder in the U.S. (National Association of Anorexia Nervosa and Associated Disorders.\, 2011). There are many ways to address and treat an eating disorder. There have been multiple studies conducted to test the effectiveness of different types of treatment. My central research question analyzes the relationship between the continuation of the eating disorder with the presence of intervention or some

Hudson, Hirripi, Pope and Kessler’s (2007) research indicates that the average onset of anorexia nervosa is 19 years old, but can develop as young as 14 years old, and women are more likely to develop anorexia nervosa than men. Some studies indicate that anorexia affects whites more than Hispanics, African Americans and Asians; however it crosses cultures and socially diverse populations (APA, 2013). According to the DSM 5, Anorexia nervosa predominantly occurs in developed, high-income countries such as in the United States, as well as in many European countries, Australia, New Zealand, and Japan. Individuals who present with weight concerns that develop eating and feeding disorders varies substantially across cultural contexts. One study indicated that that “the ‘spread’ of Western values regarding slimness (fat phobia) is primarily responsible for the development of anorexia nervosa in non-Western societies” (Rieger et al., 2001). Rieger et al (2001) also looked at the medical records of Asian women and found the absence of fat phobia; the rationale for dietary restriction was commonly related to other external factors. The WHO (2004) also reports that female athletes, ballet students, fashion models and culinary students are at risk of developing anorexia nervosa; unhealthy dieting and society’s

This research study had many different strengths.  One of the strengths is that the study encompassed all patients that fit the definition of anorexia instead of focusing on patients in a certain age range or of a certain gender or race.  Another strength is that the multimodal program included

Researchers have discovered an area on chromosome 1 that appears to be associated with an increased susceptibility to anorexia. Others can suffer from psychological reasons. People that feel low self-worth sometimes become anorexic to make themselves feel better. Anorexia’s may have an extreme drive for perfectionism, which means they may never thing they’re thin enough. A lot of people suffer because of sociocultural reasons. The media is filled with images of thin models and actors, which associates success and worth with being thin. Peer pressure from friends, coworkers, and classmates also causes some people to feel there not fitting it.

There are multiple ways to be guided to an eating disorder other than the media. “Eating behavior is a complex process controlled by the neuroendocrine system of which the Hypothalamus-pituitary-adrenal-axis (HPA axis) is a major component” (News Medical). Psychological research is very important to patients who have an eating disorder. Throughout the research in the paper, researchers have come to a conclusion that some of the qualities in the brain a person has a certain level

Each year millions of people in the United States are affected by serious and sometimes life-threatening eating disorders. The vast majorities are adolescents and young adult women. Approximately one percent of adolescent girls develops anorexia nervosa, a dangerous condition in which they can literally starve themselves to death. Another two to three percent develop bulimia nervosa, a destructive pattern of excessive overeating followed by vomiting or other " purging " behaviors to control their weight. These eating disorders also occur in men and older women, but much less frequently. The consequences of eating disorders can be severe. For example, one in ten anorexia nervosa leads to death from starvation, cardiac arrest, or