Anorexia Nervosa: From Dieting to Dangerous

Every year, 80 million Americans go on a diet. These Americans, in one way or another, watch what they eat and exercise to try to drop their extra weight. For most, the process of dieting and losing weight is a healthy one: small changes for small results. However, some people lose control, and their weight loss efforts end up being dangerous.

Anorexia nervosa is an eating disorder that affects mostly women. It tends to start in the teen years, but may continue into adulthood if not treated. Those under high stress, who participate in jobs or activities where body size is important and those who are perfectionists are more likely to develop an eating disorder such as anorexia nervosa. Anorexia nervosa is a serious eating disorder that involves starving the body through diet and/or exercise. It can cause major health problems, including heart problems, osteoporosis and kidney damage.

According to WebMD, some of the signs of anorexia nervosa include:

People who have anorexia may have several (but not all) of the symptoms:

• Weigh much less than is healthy or normal.
• Are very afraid of gaining weight.
• Refuse to stay at a normal weight.
• Think they are overweight even when they are very thin.

Their lives become focused on controlling their weight. They may:

• Obsess about food, weight, and dieting.
• Strictly limit how much they eat. For example, they may limit themselves to just a few hundred calories a day or refuse to eat certain foods, such as anything with fat or sugar.
• Exercise a lot, even when they are sick.
• Vomit or use laxatives or water pills (diuretics) to avoid weight gain.
• Develop odd habits about food, like cutting all their food into tiny pieces or chewing every bite a certain number of times.
• Become secretive. They may pull away from family and friends, make excuses not to eat around other people, and lie about their eating habits.

Keep in mind, a person with anorexia may not start out underweight; in fact, she may develop unhealthy habits to lose weight too quickly, in a desire to become underweight. She may start out on a healthy diet, and take it too far to get fast results, and in the process develop the eating disorder.

A person with anorexia nervosa needs treatment as soon as possible to prevent damage and get the best possible outcome in terms of relapses. Anorexia nervosa is treated through therapy; there are no medications specifically for treating anorexia or any other eating disorders.

National Eating Disorders Association