What is anorexia nervosa?
Anorexia nervosa is an eating disorder in which a person has a distorted image of their own body, has a great fear of getting fat and not trying to pursue a normal body weight. The disorder can have serious physical consequences and even lead to death. The name is derived from the Greek word for appetite (orexia) "nervosa" refers to the alleged neurotic background. We distinguish two types: the restricting type, weight is strictly controlled and there is little eaten (often in combination with excessive physical activity). The second type is the mixed type, they first eat anything and if this leads to no result they go excessive food and then vomit it all. People with anorexia have an excessively low weight for their age and height.
History
The syndrome is called "Apepsia hysteric" first described by the Englishman William Gull in 1868. He later changed the name to "Anorexia hysteric" and in 1873 finally "Anorexia nervosa".
Risk
The disease has a prevalence of 7 per thousand. They are mainly girls and women (85% -95% of cases), but they can also occur in boys and men (5% -15% of cases).
Syndrome
The disease is characterized by a disorder of body experience. Patients have the idea of being fat while their weight is comparable with peers or lies below it. They derive self-esteem from their ability to control their weight and keep compulsively occupied with the self-image, weight and their diet. Sometimes the disease is associated with bulimia, periods of binge eating followed by self-induced vomiting, use of laxatives and enemas and excessive exercise.
Consequences of anorexia nervosa
The severe malnutrition leads to a wide range of further problems, such as:
- Tiredness
- Slowed blood circulation; cold hands and feet
- Delayed gastric emptying, irritation of the intestine
- Constipation
- Hormonal changes, such as menstrual disorders
- Amenorrhea
- Kidney stones
- Osteoporosis
- Reduction of the stroke volume of the heart
- Slow and irregular heartbeat
- Heart Failure
- Death in about 15% of the cases,
- Nausea
- Pass Out
- Dehydration of the skin and hair loss
Signals from anorexia nervosa
- Skipping meals often 'no appetite' have
- Secretly disposing of food
- Secretly use or storage of laxatives, diuretics and diet pills
- Not want to eat where others just adapt to others in his or eating behavior
- Containers read and watch calories, are extremely picky with food
- Themselves feel ugly and fat
- Expressing disgust 'fat' are
- Strong mood swings, irritability
- Huge uncertainty
- Dizziness, faintness, menstrual problems
Help
The treatment of the disease is difficult and usually prolonged. Various forms of psychotherapy and psychiatric treatment are used and severe malnutrition also intravenous nutrition. Psychotherapy can also involve the family there. In the Netherlands several treatment centers for eating disorders. It is very important that the environment anorexia discovered quickly, so immediate help can be offered. The patient should agree to a treatment, otherwise there will be sitting in that they relapse.
Hypotheses
One of the hypotheses about the origin of the disease is that in that development by the contrast of an already formed physical maturity and yet spiritual immaturity may cause an inner conflict that could lead to a serious identity crisis. Stated simply, a young man then actually emotionally so bad with his or her physicality deal that he or she wants from. Another hypothesis is that girls do not want to be mature and not eat want to ensure that their body is not mature (no breasts and lack menstruation). Another hypothesis is that anorexia nervosa is a congenital brain disease. The proposition that young people develop anorexia by the influence of media and seeing skinny models is a myth. The emergence of anorexia comes not from an external stimulus but from an internal disease process in the brains which a person is born. Genetic factors are clearly present and birth complications were indications of an innate vulnerability of eating behavior and the development of an eating disorder. Like most hypotheses about the causes of psychiatric disorders, are these controversial. A fourth hypothesis is that it begins in young people "that something like weight loss, but they can not stop. If the ultimate eating disorder is developed, they usually do give other reasons. Anyway, due to the bad food, the body can be neglected, so that there is a life-threatening situation, but not all people with anorexia be thin. Often the patient escapes this because they are caught in the obsession of physicality. Most people who do not thinner but lighter, marks nothing on. They continue to not eat and usually can not eat because their body has become the habit. Partly because the motivation for treatment, it is therefore often very low. Anorexics often end up in the hospital because of physical complaints and underweight, sometimes they even die from this condition.