Summary: The Influence Of Genetic Causes Of Anorexia

Most people with anorexia have a distorted image of their body. An anorexic will look into the mirror and see fat, even if they are sickly thin. Most commonly, anorexia begins in the teen years. This may be related to the common self-image problems that many teens suffer from. Anorexia tends to be more common in females than in males, and early intervention seems to be the key when dealing with this disorder. When left untreated, anorexia can lead to a whole slew of physical problems. Health problems related to anorexia include osteoporosis, kidney damage or failure, heart problems, and even death. Anorexia also affects the brain, as a person starves themself their metabolism changes. This change in the body causes a person not to think clearly or make good decisions. As anorexia progresses, a person will begin to have irrational behavior. For example, a person suffering from anorexia will often make rules about the amount of food they are “allowed” to consume. Others may start to purge themselves after eating even the tiniest bit of food, which is known as Bulimia. Anorexia can also bring on another psychological disorder; Depression. Depression is a mental illness that causes a person to feel sad and hopeless most of the time. People that suffer from depression will lose interest in things that they previously enjoyed, speak slower than normal, have trouble concentrating and remembering things, and be preoccupied by death

In the book “Boys Get Anorexia Too : Coping with Male Eating Disorders in the Family,” author Jenny Langley briefly describes about anorexia nervosa, and the short-term and long-term effects of it. Anorexia is a disease involving intentional starvation, an obsession with food and weight related issues, and extreme weight loss. Langley notes that people with anorexia will deprive themselves of vital nutrients through severely restricting food intake. Despite this excessive weight loss, the person will continue to feel overweight. They deny the fact that they are at a dangerously low body weight and fear being fat. Thus, the body is forced to slow down all of its processes to conserve energy, or resulting in serious medical consequences. Langley

Anorexia nervosa is an eating disorder and a mental health condition that could potentially be life-threatening. People with anorexia try to keep their weight as low as possible by restricting the amount of food they eat. They often have a distorted image of themselves, thinking that they're fat when they're not.  Some people with the condition also exercise excessively, and some eat a lot of food in a short space of time (binge eating) and then make themselves sick. People affected by anorexia often go to great attempts to hide their behaviour from their family and friends by lying about eating and what they have eaten. Anorexia is linked to

While the media definitely plays a role in how we view ourselves, anorexia is a way of coping with what’s going on in a teen’s life. Stress, pain, anger, acceptance, confusion and fear can all become triggers for this debilitating eating disorder. The goal is one of trying to make their whole life better.

The Mayo Clinic-- a world-renowned medical facility in Minnesota-- put it well: “Anorexia isn’t about food. It’s an unhealthy way to cope with emotional problems.” According to Brousseau, there are over 6,000 girls a year dying from this emotionally induced disorder. One would think that there would be a more concentrated effort to at the very least discourage it. Examples such as her own, however, prove that there clearly is still a misconception; moreover, Anorexia is still looked at by many as a silly phase among teenaged girls rather than the reality of it being a life-threatening

As studies are being constantly worked on, to different treatments, symptoms and effects make anorexia a huge topic around the world today. Anorexia is effecting many people and their families in many more ways than we even know. Maybe with the help of studies and the studies still being done that we have today there will not be as many people looking in that mirror wishing they were

Studies have shown genetic predisposition for developing an eating disorder. Females in a family which has a member with an eating disorders are more likely then average women to develop

It is not like diabetes, for instance, which is caused by various environmental as well and genetic components. Anorexia is caused by the willingness of the individual choosing to harm their bodies. It is not due to an unpreventable disease but a personal-choice induced disorder: an individual pathology. The point of this argument is not to find a better way to theorize the term, but the focus should be switched to obtaining more research and establishing more psychological methods for helping individuals refrain from or overcome this individual pathological disorder. Women in general have an issue with ‘the lack of;’ they compare themselves with other people and because they lack that perfect figure and body weight, they are psychologically

Body dissatisfaction, the desire for thinness, binge eating, and weight preoccupation all heritable. Having a job that requires you to focus on your weigh for example ballet and modeling or playing sports where body size is important like gymnastic. The standard onset of anorexia is early to middle teens and usually starts because of stress and dieting. Between men and women, women are ten times more likely to develop this

There is an ongoing debate about nature vs nurture when it comes to what causes anorexia- is it caused by genes or the environment we are living it? I, personally, say that nature has more of an impact to cause anorexia than nurture does. There is a misconception that anorexia is a choice; however, research shows that the disorder 50-80% caused by genes. One cannot tell that people are anorexic solely based on their appearance since they can look underweight, overweight, or normal weight.

A lot of people think that Anorexia is just for selfish people. As if one day I woke up and decided not to eat because I wanted attention. This is far from the truth. As some of you know

Anorexia is an eating disorder that cause people to obsess about their eating habits and weight. This is exactly what I had to see my little sister, Nicole experience, as she was dying slowly from starvation. At the age of eleven Nicole fell into a depression caused from her peers at school who bullied her due to her weight. Seeing Nicole transform from a vibrant child to one that locked herself into her room made a big impact in my life. I realized I was losing my sister.

Self Esteem is the main cause of Anorexia as it correlates to your body image and what you think of yourself. For, people might look in the mirror and think they are overweight and they need to lose weight and that

     When I think of anorexia, a few things come to mind. I think of really bad episodes of Beverly Hills 90210 and Baywatch in which females, ususally teenagers, starve themselves and take diet pills. The eating problem is always resolved within the timespan of one 30 minute episode. From the research I've done thus far on anorexia, I now know that this is a very unrealistic representation of what is actually a very serious disease.

Finally, we will look at possible treatments for anorexia. People that suffer can get better and gradually learn to eat normally again. Anorexia involves both mind and body. Therapy or counseling is a critical part of treating eating disorders. In many cases family therapy is one of the keys to eating healthily again. Parents and other family members are important in helping the person see that his or her