Eating Disorders: Anorexia Nervosa

To be diagnosed with eating disorder, someone must meet certain criteria. The criterion for diagnosis slightly varies depending on if you are referring to people who (A) fear gaining weight, and have significant weight loss,(B) eating a huge amount of food , then use laxative to remove the binged food, (C) the use of excessive exercise and fasting in order to remove or to reduce the amount of calories consumed, and (D) distorted body image, no matter how thin they become, they still see themselves as fat, or not thin enough. The onset of of symptoms begins usually in early adolescence with the diagnostic of disturbed Body image.

There are several categories of eating disorders and the etiology differs among individuals. Weight and physical appearance has a direct relation to the food we ingest. Young women often seek an ideal look and weight. This perceived image is often a product of media influences such as televisions, and magazines, as well as generalized peer pressure. Women are more apt to suffer from eating disorders. Young women are specifically affected. Historian John Brumberg concluded that about 95% of people who suffer from eating disorders are women between the ages of 12 to 25. The Food and Drug Administration reported only 5 to 10% of the population that is afflicted with an eating disorder is males (Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders).

Anorexia nervosa is an eating disorder that involves extreme weight loss, restricted food intake, and an intense fear of becoming fat. The American Psychiatric Association outlines four diagnostic criteria for anorexia. The first is refusal to maintain body weight. The second is intense fear of gaining weight or becoming fat, even though underweight. The third is denial of the seriousness of low body weight. The

According to the Mayo Clinic (2016), eating disorders are “conditions related to persistent eating behaviors that negatively impact your health, your emotions, and your ability to function in important areas of life.” One such eating disorder is anorexia nervosa. Not to be confused with anorexia, which is simply a general loss of appetite that can be attributed to many medical ailments, anorexia nervosa is a serious eating disorder and mental illness (Nordqvist, 2015). Anorexia nervosa is estimated to affect about .9% of women and .3% of men in their lifetime (“Eating Disorder Statistics & Research,” n.d.). In general, the disorder is commonly characterized by a distorted body image or self-concept, critically low weight (with respect to the patient’s height and age), and an irrational fear of becoming fat or an intense desire to be thin. There are two subtypes to this eating disorder: restrictive and binge/purge. In the restrictive type, the individual limits caloric intake and may compulsively over-exercise. In the binge/purge type, the individual consumes a considerable amount of food in a short period of time (binging) and then deliberately vomits (purging), takes laxatives, or fasts intensely in order to compensate for the food eaten (“General Information: Anorexia Nervosa,” n.d.). In either case, anorexia nervosa is undoubtedly a dangerous and alarming illness.

Anorexia nervosa is an eating disorder that is categorized by severe food restriction, excessive exercise and body dysmorphia, which leads those that suffer from it to believe that they are overweight. Anorexia nervosa is commonly misunderstood by the general public. Research has disproved many of the previous thoughts about anorexia nervosa. According to the scientific research anorexia nervosa has a genetic factor, is not just a disorder of teenage girls, and that recovery is not simply gaining weight.

Eating disorders are potentially life threatening illnesses, which are simultaneously psychological and physical in nature. Currently, there are about 20 million women and 10 million men in America suffering from a clinically significant eating disorder, including Anorexia nervosa, Bulimia nervosa, and Binge-Eating disorder (Prevalence and Correlates of Eating Disorders).

Anorexia nervosa is an eating disorder in which people see themselves as overweight even if they are underweight. Anorexia nervosa is a self-imposed starvation. People with anorexia nervosa

Anorexia nervosa is a mental illness that is characterized by an unrealistic fear of weight gain, self-starvation, and conspicuous distortion of body image. The individual with the disorder becomes obsessed with becoming increasingly thinner and will limits food intake to the point where their health is compromised (Butcher, Hooley, J. M., & Mineka, 2013).

It is highly likely that you personally know or know of someone who has been affected by this disorder. The specific disorder that is being referred to in this paper, an eating disorder, is Anorexia Nervosa, the restricting type. An eating disorder “involve[s] disordered eating behaviors and maladaptive ways of controlling body weight” (Nevid, Rathus, & Greene, 2014, p. 335). Another well-known eating disorder is Bulimia Nervosa which is characterized by binging and purging (Nevid, Rathus, & Greene, 2014, p. 338). Bulimia is different than anorexia since victims of bulimia are often normal weight while anorexia victims are well below the average weight.

Anorexia nervosa is an eating disorder in which the individual has a distorted body self-image and an intense fear of weight gain. The individual intentionally restricts daily food intake, which causes alarming weight loss and results in self-imposed starvation. Internal medicine physicians, Brown and Mehler (2015) from Denver Health Medical Center warned, “Starvation induces protein and fat catabolism that leads to loss of cellular volume and function, resulting in adverse effects on, and atrophy of, the heart, brain, liver, intestines, kidneys, and muscles” (p. 11). Medical complications resulting from starvation affect nearly every major organ system in the adolescent body, some more severely than others. While there are 11 major organ systems

Many individuals nowadays suffer from many illnesses, one in particular is eating disorders. There are many types of eating disorders, but there are three common ones that are known today, which are anorexia nervosa, bulimia nervosa, and binge-eating disorder. Eating disorders are not healthy, this type of disease can be very fatal and crucial to one 's health  mentally, physically, and socially. The purpose of this report is to provide background information about eating disorders, strategies to prevent this illness from occurring, and lastly potential cures and treatments that can be attained to an individual if the illness is caught early. Using this  information outsiders who are not familiar to this topic can be more aware.

Anorexia is a kind of eating disorder disease. It makes people lose more weight than normal. The people with these disease see themselves as overweight, even when they are not. The most people evicted by this disorder are females. Also, it is one of the most common psychiatric diagnoses in young women. Furthermore, these sickness scored the highest death rates of any mental health. In addition, it has two subtypes, and both subtypes are very dangers illnesses that need help from professional people. The first type is restricting. The people with the first type there behaviors usually be like skip meals, fasting, and count the calories in unnatural way. The second type is purging. It is similar to the first type. But it

Anorexia Nervosa: often simply called anorexia - is an eating disorder characterized by an abnormally low body weight, intense fear of gaining weight and a distorted perception of body weight.

Eating disorders such as anorexia nervosa, bulimia nervosa, and binge eating disorder consist of emotions, attitudes, and behaviors surrounding weight and food issues. Up to 24 million people of all ages and genders suffer from an eating disorder in the U.S (ANAD, n.d.) bulimia nervosa as well as the other eating disorders are considered to be a female eating disorder, a disorder that only affects women which limits males to seek treatment let alone make aware to other that they suffer from bulimia nervosa. Individuals who suffer from bulimia nervosa tend to eat big amounts of food which experience a lack of control of over eating. They tend to undertake improper purging behaviors such as vomiting, laxative use, excessive exercise and/or starvation. Individuals with bulimia nervosa display their unsuitable adaptive eating patterns a minimum of two times per week for three months and are excessively sensitive to weight gain (Ray, 2004).

Eating disorders, are a sickness that can come from psychological issues and it can disrupt the everyday diet. “A person with an eating disorder may have started out just eating smaller or larger amounts of food, but at some point, the urge to eat less or more spiraled out of control” (“Eating Disorder,” n.d.). The common eating disorders are anorexia nervosa and bulimia nervosa. Anorexia nervosa is when someone see’s themselves as an overweight person, so they watch what they eat since, they have a fear of becoming overweight. The disorder takes over them and their focus is to avoid becoming overweight. Bulimia nervosa is when someone eats large amounts of food at one time and not being able to control how much they take in. “Researchers are finding that eating disorders are caused by a complex interaction of genetic, biological, behavioral, psychological, and social factors” (“Eating Disorder,” n.d.).