The Truth about Anorexia

Being fit and sexy is one of the priorities of women nowadays. Women are very careful especially about the food they eat but sometimes they get too intense in their desire to be thin thus resulting to eating disorders. One of this eating disorder is called Anorexia or Anorexia nervosa. Statistics show that in the US alone, 1% of teenage girls may develop anorexia nervosa and up to 10% of them might die as a result of the development of Anorexia. This statistics is disturbing because teenagers and young women are the ones usually affected by Anorexia. Their desire to be thin and sexy leads to the downfall of their self-esteem and being anorexic that could also be the path towards the end of their young lives. Yes, death, this disease could result to this morbid phenomenon. Anorexia or Anorexia Nervosa is a type of eating disorder wherein the victim starves himself and refuses to maintain a minimal body weight of at least 15% of the normal body weight. Anorexia, like other eating disorder begins in the puberty stage of a person's life. Most people who are suffering from anorexia are thin but they do not really see themselves that way. In fact, it is the total opposite; they view themselves as individuals who are very fat and overweight even though they are already stick-thin. People who have anorexia have an intense fear to gain weight which leaves them doing activities that they think would help them lose weight, which is effective but harmful to one's health. These activities include restrictive eating in which a person with anorexia limits himself with the food they eat. People with anorexia still feel hunger but they choose to ignore it which in turn makes them control excessively their desire to eat. They could also engage themselves in activities that would involve food preparation like cooking for others or storing large amount of food in their house. Individuals with anorexia do these activities because they believe that just by the sight and smell of food, they would already be satisfied. Another activity that people with anorexia does is to involve themselves in very strenuous activities like excessive exercise and work-out. Though they are really tired, they would still do the strenuous work-out because of their desire to lose weight or to keep off the weight. Symptoms of people with anorexia are not really consistent with all the victims of anorexia because every victim has different symptoms. Though that is the case, there are some symptoms that would be helpful in identifying if a person is suffering from anorexia. The first is having a body weight that is not consistent with the person's sex, age, and height. Another symptom of having anorexia is called amenorrhea which is described as the loss of menstrual period for a span of three consecutive months. People with anorexia are often declining to eat in public or with other people. These people who have anorexia also have psychological problems like anxiety, weakness, dry skin, shortness of breath, and obsessiveness about calorie count intake. Aside from the obvious physical characteristics of people with anorexia, people who have this disorder also have other medical risks associated with anorexia. These include shrunken bones, mineral loss, low body temperature, irregular heartbeat, permanent failure of normal growth, development of osteoporosis, and bulimia nervosa. Anorexia is also common for people belonging to higher social economic class and also with professions wherein being thin is really a requirement like dancing, theater, and the like. Though anorexia seems to be a very non-sense disease, it is in fact, a very serious case. The good news about this? Anorexia could be overcome with proper guidance and care. If you know someone with anorexia, call them up and show that you care Visit Bulimia and Anorexia Information for more information. This site http://www.aboutanorexia.org