Eating Disorders

Anyone is capable of getting anorexia, in the sense that there are no racial, gender, age etc. divides in who suffers. However there are likelihoods and suggestions according to personal history and biology.

Anorexia is most common in females, and generally begins under 21. It is most commonly recognised in people who have had some or all of the below issues. However, this does not discount males or over 21's as anorexics in anyway, it just means they are less common.

BIOLOGICAL PREDISPOSITION

It is suggested there is a biological predisposition to suffering with anorexia nervosa. If a girl has a sibling with anorexia nervosa, she is 10 to 20 times more likely to develop the disorder herself. People with anorexia often have higher levels of a stress hormone cortisol, and lower levels of feel good hormones like serotonin and norepinephrine.

LIFE TRANSITIONS

Beginning adolescence, changing school, breakup of relationships, bereavement, failing at something, these are all things that can help spark anorexia. Also a diet may be taken too far and become anorexia over time.

PSYCHOLOGICAL PREDISPOSITION

People suffering anorexia are often perfectionists or over-achievers. They often excel in most things and aim to please others. It is when they feel they have a chink in their metaphorical armour that they crack. They may appear to have it all under control on the outside, but inwardly they can feel helpless, inadequate or worthless, and are highly critical of themselves. If they're not perfect, they're not good enough. There are often underlying low self-esteem issues, por body image, depression, a need for control, rigid thinking patterns, avoidance of conflict, a need to feel unique or special. Children of abuse are also more likely to develop anorexia. They may be emotionally driven in many areas of their work, including career, study, physical fitness etc.

FAMILY/PEER PRESSURES

Over controlling, rigid, suffocatingly close or critical family can be a major factor, reinforcing the feeling of inadequacy. It also makes the child want to break through and be an independent individual. Parents may be over critical of themselves or their children, may always be dieting, or have alot of emphasis on looks. Having close friends or family, or the sufferer themselves, involved in an activity or career that encourages thinness, like dancing or the media.

CULTURAL PRESSURES

There is a media pressure to be thin in order to be attractive, and there are suspisions that this causes a large increase in the levels of anorexia. When western media was introduced to Fiji, the levels of Eating Disorders increased dramatically.

In many socieities, being thin is the standard of beauty and denoted success, happiness and self control. People are often bombarded with images on how to lose weight or tone up, images of an ideal woman. Or for men, to be lean and muscular is equally as important, being told to work out, tone up, lose weight.

Starving oneself is not the best way to lose weight. Take it from someone who lost 40 lbs in six weeks...me! If you starve yourself, your brain will shut down your metabolism in an effort to save energy, and your weight loss actually becomes slower.

First of all, avoid sugar and caffeine. Consuming sugar or caffeine will simply make your body burn that for energy first, and not burn fat. Also avoid high fat foods.

Eat small meals, several times a day. Mostly eat vegetables, with very little meat. When you do eat meat, stick with fish and poultry, which are low in fat. Eat breakfast! That jump starts your metabolism in the morning. What you are trying to do is teach your brain that you are going to give it some fuel several times a day, so it won't be as likely to store fat, because it will learn the pattern that there is another small meal coming shortly.

When I say small meals, I mean very small, snack size meals. The ideal is to actually decrease the overall amount of intake, AND spread it out across the day evenly. Also, don't eat after dark. You need not give your body anything to store over night while you are sleeping.

there is no solution to eating disorders some eating disorders are genetic a mental illness running through the family just like depression does sometimes. also eating disorders can b started with a feeling we all want "control" . nobody really can stop them. there is no solution to eating disorders some eating disorders are genetic a mental illness running through the family just like depression does sometimes. also eating disorders can b started with a feeling we all want "control" . nobody really can stop them.

About every 1 out of every 100 teenage girls and young women suffer or have suffered from anorexia. The average age of onset is 17. Approximately 1% of individuals with anorexia are male. This disorder affects all races and ethnic backgrounds but is most common among Caucasians

No this is not save, there is a problem with starving your self. It is called anerexia and it does not have a good out come. Please do not stop eating for twenty days it can lead to may problems and if you don't do it for twenty days, it can get into your head and you can be addicted to not eating. SO DON"T

I'm sorry, but WikiAnswers is meant to be a place where questions are answered that are there to help or educate or assist a person. Suggesting a website that encourages starvation or anorexia (a potentially fatal and life-endangering disease) would not be helping, but would be promoting this dangerous life style.

Gluttony, overeating, or perhaps binge eating.

Yes, often there will be a significant weight gain. The time it takes to gain that weight depends on how much is being consumed and various factors about the individual person.

Starvation

To lose 10 pounds in two weeks means your average daily weight loss would be about three quarters of a pound per day. Since one pound of adipose tissue -- fat -- is equivalent to 3500 calories, you'd have to run a daily calorie deficit of 2500 calories. That's a bunch! Unless you are grossly overeating, eliminating that many calories from your daily diet will not be realistic, so you will need to increase your activity as well as reduce your intake. If you increase your activity by 1250 calories (or so) and reduce your intake by a like amount, you could achieve your goal.

There are many symptoms of anorexia. Some common ones are...

Weight loss / protruding bones.

Not eating, or only eating very little / eating only "safe" (low-calories, low fat) foods.

Excessive exercise.

Hair loss.

Dry skin / flaky skin.

Discolored nails (usually a faint blue or purple).

Wearing baggy or different clothes to hide weight loss.

"Odd" food habits.

Obsesses over food, health, body image, ect.

Defensiveness over food, weight, food, ect.

Heart problems.

Organ weakness / failure.

Low body temperature.

Low heart rate.

Dizziness, fainting.

Weakness.

Mood swings.

Depression.

Victims of anorexia avoid eating situations, weighs themselves frequently, monitors food intake carefully, develops rigid food rituals and avoids certain foods, they are unhappy with their body size, and they develop a denial of hunger. Some emotional and mental signs include: depression, social isolation, low self-esteem and self-worth, controlling personality, perfectionistic, rigid, inflexible, low sex-drive, inability to concentrate and insomnia. Some physical signs include low-body-weight, lack of energy, fatigue, unsteady gait, complains of being cold or having tingling in hands and feet, thinning of hair loss and excessive exercise.

Don't even think about it! The other health risks from bulimia are terrible. Apart from every organ in your body being affected and risking them shutting down, it is not possible to be bulimic "for only three months"! Be more sensible. Eat a HEALTHY diet. Eat smaller quantities of food. And get up early and exercise! The combination of less food and more exercise will make the weight drop off. If you starve yourself you will find you lose weight from your arms and legs and chest. Exercise will make the weight drop from your belly, bum and thighs. A person who is mildly overweight should be able to lose a kilogram a week - approximately 2 pounds.

It messes up the serotonin receptors in your brain that make most people feel happy and joy.

It also deprives the brain of ATP (energy), which gives the sufferer a similar mind as someone who is extremely sleep deprived or has the flu.

In addition, it makes the brain sensitive to things like caffeine.

The stomach can't compress ingested material from the stomach to the small intestine, so the stomach attempts to compress the food, and occasionally forces it back up to the mouth, forcing the victim to vomit the "excrement". The reason it tastes so bad is because a thin shell of stomach acid travels with the vomit as it comes to the mouth.

Well, you may be losing weight you are losing muscle instead of fat. It is not very good to vommit your food due to the fact eventually your thoat will discintigrate into your body from all the stomach acid comming up. and the ending result will probally be that you will have to use a breathing tube that would be inserted by cutting a whole through your skin and placing it in your throat. I hope you reconsider your weight lose methods. There are muchh better and safier ways of doing so. You could get a membership to a gym, eat healthier ((( butt still eat))), participating in pilates or yoga. GOOD LUCK!!

By doing it anyway, but with the comfort of good friends of family who will support you. Examine the fear inside you and feel it rise, and you will notice that it will come and go without any work by you. It peaks and eases on its own and it is that very feeling that is stopping you. Ask yourself why you are afraid of a feeling? Its just adrenal glands shooting off andrenalin around your body that makes you feel that way and is nothing to be afaid of.

The only time you should ever use anything to make yourself throw up is if you have swallowed something considered poisonous or dangerous to the body and even then you should first contact a poison control center and they will tell you what to do and if you do not know the number to the center look on the package of whatever it is you just swallowed and if it is dangerous there will be a number to a poison control center. And as far as I know there are no household items that will make you throw up without poisoning and killing yourself. Ipecac syrup used to be used to help, but it was considered far too dangerous for an individual to keep in their home considering that some children would drink it, not that other things are not as dangerous, just one example. And in case you are thinking of looking this up to buy I do believe that it is no longer available to just anybody, you would have to go to a hospital or be a doctor to get a hold of it. To further convince about this syrup it does not just make you throw up, have fun spending some quality time with the toilet.

Anorexia, defined by a loss of appetite accompanied by weight loss or poor weight gain, usually denotes a VERY SERIOUS psychological disorder. This is such a complex subject matter that I will list the most salient side-effects from anorexia nervosa - * liver failure, renal failure, electrolyte imbalances (sodium and/or potassium may become abnormal in the blood), heart disorder (arrhythmias), and death. The list of complications is much longer but these are some of the most serious. Several famous people have died from anorexia - one person that comes to mind is Karen Carpenter (of the Carpenters' singing group, back in the 1970's). Loss of bone density and resulting risk of fractures. Loss of teeth with receeding gums and foul breath. Sores and breakouts on the skin, and even loss of hair. Kidney and liver failure are also common, as well as permanent damage to the internal organs and systems. The body can go into menapause very early and prevent a female from having children. All of these make the person susceptible to illness and diseases of all types, many of which can be fatal. And the person looks really, really ugly, just skin and bones, hollow eyes and knobby joints.

Eating disorders cause immeasurable suffering for individuals and their families. Eating disorders have reached epidemic levels in America-- all segments of society are affected: men and women, young and old, rich and poor, all minorities, all socio-economic levels Seven million women. One million men. AGE AT ONSET OF ILLNESS: 86% report onset of illness by the age of 20*. 10% report onset at 10 years or younger 33% report onset between ages of 11-15 43% report onset between ages of 16-20. DURATION OF ILLNESS/MORTALITY: 77% report duration from one to fifteen years* 30% report duration from one to five years. 31% report duration from six to ten years. 16% report duration from eleven to fifteen years It is estimated that six percent of serious cases die. Only 50% report being cured NOTE: In 2006 it is noted that a higher rate of individuals with eating disorders are cured. Like alcoholics being persuaded to take that next drink, individuals with eating disorders must always watch for the signs of fading into another onslaught of poor eating habits. The corrects stats are not available because many Anorexics refuse help (they honestly feel they are still too fat and it's also used as a control mechanism unbeknownst to them because they are unhappy in their lives) and many will refuse counseling, while others realizing there could be something wrong find it difficult to retrain their brain to realize they need to eat to live. There is a high rate of suicide and deaths in Anorexics. It's a living nightmare. If they don't seek help their body will begin to feed off itself, their organs will shut-down and they are at high risk for heart attacks and death is a certainty. Scientific proof has not totally been established whether this is a glitch in the person's brain (like other psychological diseases) and can't be helped, or it's learned behavior from all the Anorexic models and actors out there. Although Anorexia hits more women than men, men are certainly included in this. More and more actors are coming "out of the closet" and want help and getting it. It is possible, if the Anorexic realizes that they do have a problem to get help, become well and live a healthy life-style, but, it's true, like an alcoholic that can't have that first drink after sobriety, the Anorexic must always be cautious they don't fall through the cracks of the Anorexic world. Thinking back when I grew up in the 40s and 50s you never saw Anorexic girls. Yes, some may be thinner than others, but it was genetic and they ate well. I blame the advertising world, movie industry and diet companies for portraying what the #10 gal should look like. There is so much peer pressure on the teens out there that they will try many stupid concoctions to look better be it their weight, facial features or body builds. If you are OK on the inside and psychologically fit, then the rest is just packaging and confidence of oneself comes from the inside. We can't all be one of the beautiful people and if one was smart they would know that beauty fades fast and we need to work on our inner selves. More and more celebrities are coming out and admitting Anorexia and Bulimia and hoping to help other young people realize what they are doing to their bodies. Thin IS NOT in! Even the modeling world is getting the heat and "full-figured" women such as the likes of Marilyn Munroe are coming back into play. If you ask a young man they generally prefer women with a little meat on their bones. Young men could help more as well by telling a friend or girlfriend they are not looking good when they are too thin. I would think coming from a young man is more important than coming from an adult (after all, teens think we adults know diddly anyway.)

There is no set "time frame", so to say. It all really depends on the individual and the severity. A person who is bingeing and purging (especially purging hard, to the point of exhaustion or blood) many times a day is at a high risk of death from a stomach or esophogus rupture, electroylte imbalance, or heart complication than a person who rarely b/p.

Both anorexia and alcohol can damage the body. Each can lead to organ problems and potentially organ failure, which may end in death in some cases. Both are dangerous diseases (anorexia and alcoholism) that can be treated, too.

This one is rather obvious. Malnutrition which anorexia causes (not eating enough) will lower the sperm count in a man. If the sperm count gets too low it will be difficult or impossible for him to get a woman pregnant. Women anorexics also become less fertile. Starvation will eventually cause a woman to stop menstruating and she will not be able to conceive or get pregnant. Anorexia causes many other problems as well, some of which can be permanent depending how emaciated a person get.