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Anorexia is an eating disorder which affects mainly teenage girls but
men as well as women have been know to develop the illness a little later
in life, it is a disease which causes the sufferer to firmly believe that
they are overweight, when in fact the opposite is true. Those suffering
from anorexia will develop a fear of becoming fat to the point where they
don't eat or eat and then purge the food by means of induced vomiting.
The symptoms and signs of anorexia
A person is said to be anorexic if their weight loss falls below 15% of
the normal ideal body weight for a person of similar age and height, in
young girls, the periods may also stop or they may be delayed. The sufferer
of anorexia will develop a deep-seated fear of not only becoming overweight
but also that they are fat and overweight, they will even believe this
when their weight is far below that of average.
If the person does eat then they will feel bloated after only the smallest
of meals and many will induce vomiting in order to purge themselves of
what they ate. They will begin to lose all interest in a social life and
have side effects such as extreme tiredness, feeling cold, become constipated
and have problems with the stomach.
Some people may have suffered from anorexia for a long time before anyone
realises there is anything wrong but the sooner the illness is diagnosed
then the better the chance of recovery. However, it can take many months
or even years for the weight gain to reach what is recommended for the
person's height.
How is anorexia treated?
Treatment for the illness will vary from person to person and will also
depend on the severity of the illness, there is no single remedy for the
illness and it can take a long time to recover from it depending on how
long the person has been suffering and how much weight has been lost.
Effective treatments for the illness are
* Restoring the person to a healthy weight for their height over a period
of time
* Encouraging the person to establish healthy eating habits
* Treating any underlying physical complications or mental health problems
* Help them to address issues they have concerning food and their body
* Enlisting the help of family members
The biggest problem and the first steps towards recovery are getting the
person to admit that they do indeed have a problem and getting them to
realise they are suffering from an illness and do need help to recover.
Once this step has been taken then recovery from anorexia is a long drawn
out process with the first step being getting the person up to a reasonable
level of weight for their height.
Family support is crucial on the road to recovery and family members are
usually advised to attend therapy along with the person suffering in order
to gain a better understanding of how the illness happened in the first
place and also how they can stop it happening in the future.
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