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The effects of eating disorders on health
Eating disorders and their effects on the human body
Eating disorders and their effects on the human body
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Anorexia Nervosa is an eating disorder that is most prevalent in adolescent girls and young women. It is distinguished by the loss of at least 15% of the expected body weight (Long). The disease is characterized by the obsessive fear of gaining weight; through this fear, the person engages in dangerous dieting habits that prevent weight gain. According to statistics in 2011 anorexia is categorized as the third most common chronic disease among adolescents, in addition, eating disorders also have the highest mortality rate of any mental illness (Wilkins). Anorexia is a life-threatening disorder that I have only been slightly aware of. I was aware that anorexia was characterized by a serious amount of weight loss however, I never expected two of my best friends’ lives to be ruled by this disorder. In the beginning of my freshman year at college, I found that my friends were losing weight, they were already on the lean side. However they appeared to be getting even smaller. A few months later I was shocked to overhear a phone call from their mother with mine. My two best friends are twins, and their mother noticed their weight loss. She began to worry so she made the difficult decision to take them to the doctor. Things progressed quickly, they began seeing a weight doctor and a psychologist. Because they lived in Florida, I had a difficult time believing that this disease could be so serious. However, when they visited me during fall semester, I was shocked to hug them and find that they were skin and bones. When going to a restaurant with me I was even more shocked by how argumentative and volatile they were at the dinner table, and how they argued with one another. They counted each piece of food on their plate and ate extremely... ... middle of paper ... ...pr 2011. < http://www.anad.org/get-information/about-eating-disorders/bulimia-nervosa/>. Crow, S.J. et al. "Eating Disorders Statistics." ANAD. National Association of Anorexia Nervosa and Associated Disorders, 2009. Web. 20 Apr 2011. . “Eating Disorders Growing More Common." Today’s Science On File: n. pag. Today’s Science. Facts On File News Services, 30 Nov. 1995. Web. 20 Apr. 2011. . "Health Guide: Anorexia Nervosa." The New York Times Health Guide. The New York Times, 07/02/2011. Web. 20 Apr 2011. . Long, M.D, Phillip. "Anorexia Nervosa." Mental Health. World Health Organization, 2011. Web. 20 Apr 2011. .
Anorexia Nervosa may be described directly as an eating disease classified by a deficit in weight, not being able to maintain weight appropriate for one’s height. Anorexia means loss of appetite while Anorexia Nervosa means a lack of appetite from nervous causes. Before the 1970s, most people never heard of Anorexia Nervosa. It was identified and named in the 1870s, before then people lived with this mental illness, not knowing what it was, or that they were even sick. It is a mental disorder, which distorts an individual’s perception of how they look. Looking in the mirror, they may see someone overweight
“Fighting Anorexia” and “cookie monster” are two different articles based on research by some group of psychiatrists that focuses on eating disorder, which in psychology is referred to as a mental illness. Anorexia nervosa is a mental condition that describes a person’s obsession with food and the acute anxiety over weight gain (Newsweek cover, 2005). This disorder is categorized by an individual’s phobia on what to eat and what not to eat; as a result, the person begins to starve his or her self just to avoid adding more weight. The article published on the “Cookie Monster” expatiate on a research that describes how food is being used by some individuals to change their mood (McCarthy, 2001). This research shows that individuals especially college students try to subdue their emotions through the use of sweets and cookies. To further understand of these two experimental research in both articles, some important questions will be answered below.
Each year millions of people in the United States develop serious and often fatal eating disorders. More than ninety percent of those are adolescent and young women. The consequences of eating disorders are often severe--one in ten end in death from either starvation, cardiac arrest, or suicide. Due to the recent awareness of this topic, much time and money has been attributed to eating disorders. Many measures have been taken to discover leading causes and eventual treatment for those suffering from anorexia. (http://www.kidsource.com/kidsource ...er.html#Causes of Eating Disorders) )
When considering the relationship between gender and eating disorders, more than 90 percent of t...
"Eating Disorder Statistics." 2003 Retraining Grant Program. South Carolina Department of Mental Health, 2006. Web. 24 Oct. 2011. .
As defined by the National Eating Disorders Association, “Anorexia Nervosa is a serious, potentially life-threatening eating disorder characterized by self-starvation and excessive weight loss.” (NEDA). The term “Anorexia Nervosa” literally means “neurotic loss of appetite”, and could be more generally defined as the result of a prolonged self-starvation and an unhealthy relationship regarding food and self-image. It is characterized by “resistance to maintaining body weight at or above a minimally normal weight for age and height”, “intense fear of weight gain or being “fat”, even though underweight”, “disturbance in the experience of body weight or shape, undue influence of weight or shape on self-evaluation, or denial of the seriousness of low body weight”, and “loss of menstrual periods in girls and women post-puberty.”(NEDA) Among women on a range of 15 to 24 years old, AN has been proved to have 12 times the annual mortality rate of all death causes, and from premature deaths of anorexic patients, 1 in every 5 is caused by suicide, which gives a rise of 20% for suicide probability. (EDV)
Eating Disorders are on a rapid rise in the United States today, they sweep the halls of Junior High School, High Schools, College Campuses and even Elementary Schools. These disorders are often referred to by professionals as the “Deadly Diet,” however you may know them as Anorexia or Bulimia. Eating disorder effect more than 20% of young females and males in today’s society. Ranging in age from thirteen to forty. It is very rare for a child of a young age to not know someone who is suffering from an eating disorder or symptoms that are associated with one. Statistically it has been proven that one out of every five young woman suffer from serious issues dealing with eating and or weight. (Bruch, 25)
van't Hof, Sonja. Anorexia Nervosa: The Historical and Cultural Specificity. Berwyn: Offsetdrukkerij Kanters B.V., 1994.
Bruch, Hilde M.D. The Golden Cage: The Enigma of Anorexia Nervosa. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press, 1978.
In 1978, Brunch called anorexia nervosa a 'new disease' and noted that the condition seemed to overtake ?the daughters of the well-to-do, educated and successful families.? Today it is acknowledged and accepted that anorexia affects more than just one gender or socio-economic class; however, much of the current research is focused on the female gender. ?Anorexia nervosa is characterized by extreme dieting, intense fear of gaining weight, and obsessive exercising. The weight loss eventually produces a variety of physical symptoms associated with starvation: sleep disturbance, cessation of menstruation, insensitivity to pain, loss of hair on the head, low blood pressure, a variety of cardiovascular problems and reduced body temperature. Between 10% and 15% of anorexics literally starve themselves to death; others die because of some type of cardiovascular dysfunction (Bee and Boyd, 2001).?
ANAD. “Eating Disorders Statistics”. National Association of Anorexia Nervosa & Associated Disorders, Inc., 2013.Web. 18 Nov 2013.
Fotios C. Papadopoulos, A. E. (2009). Excess mortality causes of death and prognostic factors in anorexia nervosa. The British Journal of Psychiatry, 10-17.
"ANAD." Eating Disorders Statistics « « National Association of Anorexia Nervosa and Associated Disorders. N.p., n.d. Web. 22 Apr. 2014.
Anorexia nervosa and Bulimia nervosa are described as psychological eating disorders (Keel and Levitt, 1). They are both characterized by an over-evaluation of weight. Despite being primarily an eating disorder, the manifestations of bulimia and anorexia are different. They both present a very conspicuous example of dangerous psychological disorders, as according to the South Carolina Department of Health, “Eating disorders have the highest mortality rate of any mental illness” (Eating Order Statistics, 1). While Bulimia and anorexia are both psychological disorders primarily prevalent in women, anorexia tends to have different diagnostic complexities, symptoms and physiological effects as compared to bulimia.
Matthews, John R. Library in a Book: Eating Disorders. New York: Facts on File Inc. 1991