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Modern fashion standards force the fragile minds of young girls to go on strict diets in order to lose weight. Although sometimes this weight is not at all superfluous. However, alignment with thin models from glossy magazines often leads to exhaustion and the development of such a serious disease as anorexia. It threatens not only with a deterioration in appearance, but also with serious health consequences, up to and including death.
Anorexia – what is it?
Anorexia – this is a lack of appetite, a complete or partial refusal of food, which leads to weight loss and the occurrence of many concomitant diseases (somatic, endocrine, oncological, neurological and mental).
Patients rapidly lose weight, they experience nausea, vomiting, after a small amount of food they feel like after overeating.
This term also refers to a disease of the nervous system – anorexia nervosa. This disease occurs when the patient independently provokes weight loss by refusing food. At the same time, despite exhaustion, a person will not complain about dangerous symptoms, as he is convinced of his own completeness. Most often, young girls and women who are trying to lose weight are susceptible to the disease. At the same time, they do not lose their appetite, but they refuse to eat normally because of the fear of “extra” kilograms.
Also, anorexia can be a symptom of diseases of the lungs, gastrointestinal tract, endocrine and nervous systems, gynecological disorders and mental disorders.
Causes of anorexia
The range of diseases that can be the causes of anorexia is very wide. Among them are diabetes mellitus, thyrotoxicosis, drug addiction, alcoholism, anemia, various infections, intoxication, depression, anxiety phobias, hormonal and immunological disorders, and so on.
Recently, anorexia nervosa has become widespread. Most often, patients with this form of anorexia suffer from anxiety disorders of the psyche. When anorexia becomes clinical, body weight rapidly decreases, the menstrual cycle and food absorption are disturbed, gastritis and enterocolitis develop. With anorexia nervosa, it seems to patients (mainly girls and young women) that they are prone to obesity, dissatisfaction with themselves and their physical form is manifested. Thus, patients exhaust themselves with hunger, strict diets and excessive physical exertion, and body weight is rapidly decreasing.
With anorexia nervosa, it is very important to eliminate the phobic anxiety disorder with the help of psychotherapy and taking the necessary medications. After that, appetite may improve, body weight will gradually recover. In addition to the main treatment, patients should take vitamins (B, E, A, C) and eat high-calorie, easily digestible food.
Lack of appetite and weight loss can be symptoms of depression: other symptoms also appear (depression, bad mood, passivity, insomnia, pessimism, etc.)
Treatment with certain drugs: glucocorticosteroids, hormones, psychostimulants, antidepressants, sedatives. In this case, doctors point to drug anorexia.
Primary anorexia is always caused by various diseases. They have an indirect or direct effect on the center of appetite, which is located in the brain. This leads to the fact that a person loses the desire to eat.
When a person develops false anorexia, several groups of factors should influence him at once, including:
hereditary desire for thinnesswhich is intrusive. The gene regions in the 1st and 13th pairs of chromosomes, namely the 1p34 gene, are responsible for it. This gene is activated in adverse conditions, when a person adheres to an irrational diet, or is exposed to stress.
Biological factors: overweight and early onset of the menstrual cycle. In addition, neurotransmitters that function with disorders (dopamine and serotonin receptors) may be responsible for the desire for thinness. They regulate the eating behavior of a person. Zinc deficiency in the body matters. This problem does not lead to the development of anorexia, but worsens its course.
Personal characteristics of a person. If a person is a perfectionist, if he strives to be the best in everything, or has low self-esteem, suffers from a sense of his own imperfection, is unsure of himself, then his risk of developing anorexia is high. Women with a similar diagnosis are often distinguished by particular accuracy and pedantry, but they hardly make compromises.
The influence of society. Excessive thinness is now in fashion, so existing social stereotypes can affect the development of the disease. Sometimes such mental disorders occur due to physical violence that was applied to a girl, or due to an emotional shock.
The age of the person. At risk are adolescents with an unformed psyche and personality characteristics. Since recently most children are accelerators, the disease tends to rejuvenate.
Symptoms of anorexia
The main symptoms of anorexia are decreased appetite and significant weight loss (more than 30% of normal). The disease is also expressed by menstrual disorders (in women), amenorrhea, weakness, sleep disturbances and potency (in men), arrhythmia, muscle spasms. In anorexia nervosa, patients constantly feel that they are unnecessarily full; self-esteem is markedly underestimated and depends on weight.
If you do not treat anorexia, the patient can reach the cachectic stage (dystrophy of internal organs), which leads to death.
A very important and dangerous factor is that patients often hide the symptoms and methods of losing weight from loved ones. But you should know that the first stage in the development of anorexia nervosa is complexes about being overweight and taking active measures to reduce it.
With anorexia, cardiac arrhythmia develops, which, in turn, due to the lack of potassium, magnesium and other important minerals, can lead to fainting, dizziness, and even sudden cardiac arrest.
The condition of the patient’s skin also noticeably worsens: it becomes dry, pale, hair falls out, the structure of the nails is disturbed. The digestive and endocrine systems also suffer: severe stomach pains, constipation, metabolic disorders, hormonal disruptions, amenorrhea appear. Anorexia has, among other things, serious consequences: depression can drive the patient to suicide.
In addition, the following symptoms of anorexia can be distinguished:
A person strives to lose weight by all means. At the same time, it is obvious to other people that he already has a deficiency of body weight. Alternatively, the weight may be normal.
Fatphobia, that is, a person suffers from the fear of fullness.
The patient’s thoughts are busy counting kilocalories, and he tries to find them even where they are not there, for example, in tooth powder. Human interests are limited to diets and the process of losing weight.
The patient often refuses to eat. He motivates his unwillingness to eat by lack of appetite, he can deceive that he had recently had a snack. If he is seated at the table, then he cuts portions significantly.
The patient’s thinking is skeletal. If he is convinced of something, he will insist on being right like a fanatic. Often in such moments, a person shows aggression.
Symptoms of anorexia in children
In children younger than a year, anorexia will manifest itself clearly. Babies can’t hide their refusal to eat. At first they show displeasure from the feeding process itself, and then they begin to spit up food. In this case, the symptoms of any disease from the digestive organs will be absent. The baby stops breastfeeding and turns away from the bottle. At an older age, children throw cutlery off the table, tighten their lips, and do not want to eat the usual foods that the whole family eats. At the same time, the child may ask for some unusual product, for example, a lemon. The child picks up food in his mouth, but does not swallow it and does not chew it, spitting it out into a plate.
Anorexia is more difficult to detect in preschoolers. Skin itching, constipation and dizziness in children develops in the later stages of the disease. Often, adults find out that children have been provoking vomiting on their own for a long time. Parents should pay attention to the refusal of the baby from sweets. The cause of anorexia in childhood is often psychological trauma, for example, the breakup of a family.
Stages of development of anorexia
Primary (initial) stage. This stage can last from 2 to 4 years. Its main characteristic is dysmorphomania. This is manifested by the fact that a person is dissatisfied with his appearance. He has strange thoughts about bringing his body to perfection. In addition, the person becomes depressed. Substrings often invent some kind of appearance defects on their own. They do not like their rounded figure, the stomach or hips seem too full. Sometimes they begin to find other flaws in themselves, such as big ears, nose or chin. At the same time, girls tend to resemble their ideal in everything, like a famous actress or model. Anorexia can be triggered by careless criticism of a loved one or remarks from other people.
anorectic stage. During this period, the patient takes active steps towards achieving his own goal. A person loses from 20 to 50% of his weight, he develops somatoendocrine disorders. Girls stop menstruating (amenorrhea). Patients often try to hide the process of losing weight. They are actively involved in sports, while they begin to limit themselves in food. To begin with, the volume of carbohydrate and protein foods consumed is cut, after which the diet becomes very rigid. Most girls switch to plant foods and dairy products.
Many patients begin to independently develop sets of exercises for themselves that allow them to lose weight even faster. They cut the time of night rest, tighten the waist so that the food is absorbed more slowly. Then comes the time of “hard” ways to deal with weight: enemas, taking laxatives, artificially inducing vomiting.
Often, girls purchase special drugs for weight loss, many of which are strong psychostimulants. Patients during this period begin to actively smoke and drink coffee to dull the feeling of hunger. Sometimes they resort to diuretics.
At this stage, people remain physically active and mobile, they continue to go to work or school. However, physical suffering is no longer alien to them. Heart problems appear, dizziness haunts, sweating intensifies. Most often, these symptoms gain intensity after eating.
cachectic stage. When the cachectic stage of anorexia sets in, girls begin to suffer from somatoendocrine disorders. They develop persistent amenorrhea and continue to lose weight rapidly. The body of patients is devoid of subcutaneous fat, not only hair, but also teeth begin to fall out. The skin is very flaky.
The heart muscle undergoes dystrophic changes. This affects the work of the body, the pulse slows down, the pressure drops. Fingertips and nose become bluish. The body temperature will always be lowered. The level of sugar and hemoglobin in the blood falls.
Patients cease to show interest in life, they spend most of the time in bed, they have neither the strength nor the desire to lead a normal life. The function of digestion of food is significantly affected. Patients suffer from constipation.
Although such patients are in a state of severe malnutrition, they continue to refuse food. The reason for this is “overweight”. About 20% of such patients die from irreversible changes in the internal organs, which are unable to support further vital activity.
Complications of anorexia
The disease is dangerous for its complications. You can cope with them in the early stages of anorexia.
They include:
Disturbances in the work of the brain. This is manifested by depression, apathy, deterioration of cognitive abilities, emotional lability. The person becomes conflicted and uncommunicative. Many people begin to abuse alcohol and drugs, suicidal tendencies appear.
Fall of immunity. All chronic diseases pass into an acute phase. A person often suffers from colds, which end in severe complications. Another consequence of anorexia is frequent stomatitis.
Osteoporosis. The patient has frequent fractures, pain in the spine. Against the background of its deformation, a stoop develops, which was not previously observed.
Hypoglycemia. A person suffers from hallucinations, muscle spasms, cerebral edema. In severe cases, coma develops.
Hypokalemia. This violation is expressed by such symptoms as: chest pain, palpitations, muscle weakness, muscle pain, constipation, paralysis, intestinal obstruction.
Diseases of the cardiovascular system with the development of heart failure, lowering blood pressure, depletion of the heart muscle, slowing the heart rate.
Hormonal disbalance. High levels of stress hormones (adrenaline and norepinephrine) lead to depression and hysteria. Women often remain infertile, they develop persistent amenorrhea. Metabolic processes in the body are slowed down, which is facilitated by a drop in the level of thyroid hormones.
Disruptions in the digestive system. People suffer from liver diseases, from colitis, gastritis, enteritis. The internal organs undergo dystrophy and descend into the small pelvis.
General violations: anemia, vitamin deficiency, malfunction of internal organs.
The most formidable complication of anorexia is death.
Treatment of anorexia
Coping with anorexia is very difficult. This is a serious pathology that requires long-term treatment. Its main goal is the restructuring of the human psyche. Of course, it is necessary to return the lost body weight, but if the patient’s worldview is not rebuilt, then all efforts will be unsuccessful. It is important to find out the factor that became the trigger for the development of anorexia.
Many people seek medical help before the time when they begin to develop severe disorders. Therefore, therapy can be carried out at home. If anorexia has a running course, then the person is hospitalized. In addition to taking medication, he will need psychological help. All family members and close circle of the patient should work with doctors.
Body mass gain
The first stage of a therapeutic diet should be distinguished by a reduced calorie content. A person needs to receive no more than 1600 kcal per day, which depends on the degree of exhaustion of the patient. Then the calories gradually increase.
You need to eat in small portions, but often. First, the dishes should be liquid, semi-liquid, mushy. It is cooked in a gentle way. Food should not be fried.
The patient should receive about 3 liters of water per day. Often such patients take diuretics, so their body suffers from dehydration.
The menu is gradually expanding, introducing into it products – sources of animal proteins and fatty amino acids.
A person should be on the treatment menu for about 2 months, then he is transferred to a standard diet. Products are prepared as usual. Until body weight returns to normal, a person should receive high-calorie meals.
Taking medications
There are no medicines that would save a person from anorexia. However, most patients are prescribed antidepressants, which allow them to cope with existing mental problems.
In addition to psychotropic drugs, patients are prescribed vitamins and minerals, dietary supplements, antihistamines. All this will increase your appetite. Sometimes they resort to decoctions of medicinal herbs, for example, mint, lemon balm, coltsfoot.
Psychocorrection
The help of a psychologist for patients with anorexia is needed no less than medication correction. Man is re-learned to love food. He shouldn’t treat her like an enemy. It is important to instill an understanding that foods help the body continue to live, make it healthy and strong.
The patient needs to be fully supported, he must learn to treat his body correctly, stop hating excess weight. Any stressful situations a person needs to be able to overcome on their own. The closest environment of the patient, his relatives and friends are involved in the work. The psychologist explains to them how to work with the patient correctly.
Treatment of children with anorexia
Recommendations for the treatment of children with anorexia:
The diet must be adjusted. Minor deviations can be allowed, but they should not exceed a quarter of an hour.
Do not give your child sugary snacks.
If the baby is actively moving, playing, playing sports, then he should come to the table half an hour after the completion of physical activity. This will allow him to rest and feel hungry.
Food should be made aesthetically appealing to the child. You can cut vegetables and fruits beautifully, add any other decorations.
All distractions must be excluded. This applies to TV, smartphone, tablet, etc.
To make the child think that the portion is small, it must be served on a large plate.
If a child refuses to eat at lunch, then there is no need to punish or praise him. It should be limited to snacking until the next meal.
If your child has difficulty swallowing food, you can allow him to drink a small amount of warm water with it.
Answers to popular questions
My husband has been refusing food for the last six months. First, he cut down on portion sizes, and then he began to say that he had no appetite, or that he was sick from the smell of food. What to do in this situation? The husband needs to be sent to the doctor as soon as possible. An MRI of the brain should be done. Loss of appetite often becomes a signal of a latent illness. A brain tumor or tuberculosis cannot be ruled out.
I had a cold with otitis media. I lost my appetite after the illness, I don’t feel like eating, but I force myself. What to do in this situation? Appetite during illness always decreases. After its completion, it should stabilize. To find out the cause of your condition, you need to contact a therapist and a nutritionist. The doctor will help to make the optimal menu, recommend the missing vitamins, and may prescribe sedatives. This will bring your appetite back to normal.
I notice that my daughter began to refuse food. Caught her trying to induce vomiting. She has lost a lot of weight and is constantly leaving the house. He says he attends training. Achievement has declined. What should I do? You need to try to speak frankly with your child. Perhaps now the girl has some kind of hidden problem, for example, a conflict at school. You need to convince her to visit a doctor and get treatment if he prescribes it. The situation you describe indicates anorexia, so you should not hesitate to seek professional help.