Is there a cure for anorexia nervosa?

Answer 1

there are some people who help anorexics, but it is hard to get them to stop. it's pretty much an ediction. They have to help them eat good helpings of food without them trying to get out of eating that much and try to get them to see though their eyes and hw sick they realy look. hope that is what u were lokking 4!!! :)

Answer 2

While there is no exact cure for any eating disorder, there are many successful treatments including therapy, hospitalization, nutritional guidance, and support groups that have been shown to essentially "cure" anorexia.

Answer 3

There is not a "cure", exactly. No eating disorder has a set cure. Instead, there are many methods of treatments and therapies that a person can go through to help them recover and regain a healthy lifestyle.

Answer 4

"Treatment for anorexia nervosa tries to address three main areas.

1) Restoring the person to a healthy weight;

2) Treating the psychological disorders related to the illness;

3) Reducing or eliminating behaviours or thoughts that originally led to the disordered eating.

Although restoring the person's weight is the primary task at hand, optimal treatment also includes and monitors behavioral change in the individual as well.

As treatment can prove to be difficult, "as many as 6 percent of people with the disorder die from causes related to it."

If anorexia nervosa is not treated, serious complications such as heart conditions and kidney failure can initiate and eventually lead to death.

Dietary Treatmeant

• Zinc supplementation has been shown in various studies to be beneficial in the treatment of AN even in patients not suffering from zinc deficiency, by helping to increase weight gain.
• Essential fatty acids:The omega-3 fatty acids docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) and eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) have been shown to benefit various neuropsychiatric disorders. There was reported rapid improvement in a case of severe AN treated with ethyl-eicosapentaenoic acid (E-EPA) and micronutrients.[195] DHA and EPA supplementation has been shown to be a benefit in many of the comorbid disorders of AN including: attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), autism, major depressive disorder (MDD),[196] Bipolar disorder, and borderline personality disorder. Accelerated cognitive decline and mild cognitive impairment (MCI) correlate with lowered tissue levels of DHA/EPA, and supplementation has improved cognitive function.[197][198]
• Nutrition counseling[199][200]
• Medical Nutrition Therapy;(MNT) also referred to as Nutrition Therapy is the development and provision of a nutritional treatment or therapy based on a detailed assessment of a person's medical history, psychosocial history, physical examination, and dietary history.[201][202][203]

Medication Treatment:

• Olanzapine: has been shown to be effective in treating certain aspects of AN including to help raise the body mass index and reduce obsessionality, including obsessional thoughts about food.[204][205] However, its primary usefulness is that it is one of the most potent appetite stimulants known, and causes the body to preferentially store fat.

Therapy Treatment:

• Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) CBT is an evidence based approach which in studies to date has shown to be useful in adolescents and adults with anorexia nervosa.[206][207][208] Components of using CBT with adults and adolescents with anorexia nervosa have been outlined by several professionals as:

• the therapist focuses on using cognitive restructuring to modify distorted beliefs and attitudes about the meaning of weight, shape and appearance[209]
• specific behavioral techniques addressing the normalization of eating patterns and weight restorations, examples of this include the use of a food diary, meal plans, and incremental weight gain[209]
• cognitive techniques such as restructuring, problem solving, and identification and expression of affect[209]

• When using CBT with adolescents and children with AN, several professionals have expressed concerns about the minimum age and level of cognition necessary for implementing cognitive behavioral techniques.[209] Modified versions and elements of CBT can be implemented with children and adolescents with AN. Such modifications may include the use of behavioral experiments to disconfirm distorted beliefs and absolutistic thinking in children and adolescents.[209]

• Acceptance and commitment therapy: A type of CBT, has shown promise in the treatment of AN" participants experienced clinically significant improvement on at least some measures; no participants worsened or lost weight even at 1-year follow-up."[210]
• Cognitive Remediation Therapy (CRT): is a cognitive rehabilitation therapy developed at King's College in London designed to improve neurocognitive abilities such as attention, working memory, cognitive flexibility and planning, and executive functioning which leads to improved social functioning. Neuropsychological studies have shown that patients with AN have difficulties in cognitive flexibility. In studies conducted at Kings College[211] and in Poland with adolescents CRT was proven to be beneficial in treating anorexia nervosa,[211] in the United States clinical trials are still being conducted by the National Institute of Mental Health[212] on adolescents age 10-17 and Stanford University in subjects over 16 as a conjunctive therapy with Cognitive behavioral therapy.[213]

• Family therapy: The most effective form of therapy for adolescents with anorexia is family therapy.[214] There are various forms of family-based therapy that have been proven to work in the treatment of adolescent AN including "conjoint family therapy" (CFT), in which the parents and child are seen together by the same therapist, "separated family therapy" (SFT) in which parents and child attend therapy separately with different therapists. "Eisler's cohort show that, irrespective of the type of FBT, 75% of patients have a good outcome, 15% an intermediate outcome... ".[215][216] Proponents of Family Therapy for adolescents with AN assert that it is important to include parents in the adolescent's treatment.[217] Several components of using Family Therapy with Children and Adolescents are:

• the family is seen as a resource for the adolescent[218]
• anorexia nervosa is reframed in benign, non blaming terms[218]
• directives are provided to parents so that they may take charge of their child or adolescent's eating routine[218]
• a structured behavioral weight gain program is implemented[218]
• after weight gain, control over eating is gradually returned to the child or adolescent[218]
• as the child or adolescent begins to eat and gain weight, the theraputic focus broadens to include family interaction problems, growth and autonomy issues and parent child conflicts[218]

• Maudsley Family Therapy: A 4 to 5 year follow up study of the Maudsley approach, a manualized model, that shows full recovery at rates up to 90%.[219]

Alternative medicine

• Yoga: In preliminary studies indivualized yoga treatment has shown positive results for use as an adjunctive therapy to standard care. The treatment was shown to reduce eating disorder symptoms, including food preoccupation, which decreased immediately after each session. Scores on the Eating Disorder Examination decreased consistently over the course of treatment."

Answer 5

Unfortunately there isn't a cure... I have personally been suffering with Anorexia Nervosa for a few years now,. I joined a 12 step program and I am finally getting my hunger queues back. I've tried everything/programs out there to try and get healthier but not one actually worked until about I started my 12 step program. I also now have issues with my kidneys and heart. So that gave me to boost to try and get healthier. I am 5'9'' and I got down to 102 lbs (I'm supposed to weigh at least 130. lbs because of my height). I hope this helps. Also I am now sponsoring people with eating disorders. If your are interested or just want more information please feel free to email at brittanyromano88@gmail.com. I would be more then happy to help you. This program really works. If I don't hear from you, Good Luck!

Answer 6

In a perfect world, yes. But most people need talk therapy and other medical interventions to get past the condition. Depending on how long the person has had anorexia, there may be other issues with the esophagus, heart and so on. Best to start with a doctor once the condition is recognized to develop a treatment plan.

Answer 7

Yes :)