According to the American Anorexia Bulimia Association (AABA), one percent of all teenage American girls develop anorexia nervosa and up to 10% of those who develop it die from it. The National Eating Disorders Organization (NEDO) observes that 90-95% of all victims are female. Because untreated anorexia nervosa is a proven woman-killer, knowing the warning signs is essential to successful recovery.
In the 1870s, Sir William gull coined the name "anorexia nervosa," which means "nervous loss of appetite." The phrasing was unfortunate because, as the National Association of Anorexia Nervosa and Associated Disorders (ANAD) points out, anorexics are perpetually hungry, but deny their impulse to eat because they are terrified of gaining weight. Only in the most advanced stages of the condition do anorexics lose their desire for food.
There are two types of anorexia nervosa: restrictive and binge/purging. According to the Academy for Eating Disorders, restrictors maintain a low body weight through self-starvation and excessive exercise. In addition to calorie cutting, binge/purgers stuff themselves, then induce vomiting or misuse laxatives, diuretics, or enemas. Because of its resemblance to bulimia nervosa, a diagnosis for the latter group can be problematical. If a patient meets criteria for both anorexia and bulimia, she is diagnosed as an anorexic, binge/purging type. According to NEDO, one-third of anorexics develop bulimia.
The Academy for Eating Disorders notes that most clinicians will suspect anorexia in a patient who is 85% or less of normal body weight. But what is "normal"? Norms vary with individual body type and chemistry. For this reason, Anorexia Nervosa and Related Eating Disorders, Inc. (ANRED) advises against relying on charts, tables or complex formulas. Instead, ANRED recommends a combination of subjective and objective factors. How do you feel? If the answer is "strong, energetic, and healthy," you're probably on the right track. Are your blood pressure, cholesterol and sugar levels good? Are you free of the back or joint pain associated with bone loss due to malnutrition? If so, these are signs that you have achieved a healthy weight.
 |
