Normally we come across three types of people. One is the health conscious type; Following a balanced, nutritious diet, exercising consistently and keeping themselves trim and healthy. The second type of people just love eating and they are not bothered about their looks or health . Most of them live on fast foods and coke. And, the third type of people are who have the fea of becoming fat and starve themselves. These people are suffering from an eating disorder known as Anorexia. By starving and following rigorous exercising, the Anorexics are very thin and maintain a very low body weight. According to a recent report published in a newspaper, Anorexia is disease, a condition similar to Diabetes or to say a sort of cousin of Diabetes.
photo credit: ValetheKid
A higher percentage of Anorexia suffers are woman, though we find that men also suffer from this disorder. Mostly we find that women who wants to look very attractive and are afraid of putting on weight, or women who needs to look thin in their profession, like dancers or actors, are prone to suffer from this disorder. According to statistics, 1% of adolescents in United States are suffering from Anorexics.
Anorexics achieve weight loss in two ways; One is by fasting and by excess exercises to restrict calories and the other is achieving weight loss by vomiting and using laxatives. Anorexia can affect a person mentally and physically. Their only thought will be to exercise, starve and count calories. Anorexia can lead to dehydration, mal-nutrition heart damage, electrolyte imbalances, gastrointestinal problems, and even death, in fact the mortality rates from Anorexia are very high. In females Anorexia, can cause Amenorrhea, Osteoporosis, Infertility and Birth  Complications.
Anorexia Treatments:
If anyone in your family is suffering from Anorexia, look out for signs like refusing to eat in public, brittle skin, weakness, anxiety etc and treat them as early as possible, before they suffer from any complications. Treating Anorexics can be quite challenging because they will be panic-stricken about the thought of food, and will refuse treatment.
Counseling is the most important treatment for Anorexics. The patient should be educated about the unhealthy risks of starvation and laxatives. They should be taught to identify that they have a problem , overcome the fear of gaining weight and understanding the importance and necessity of body weight. If the patient is unmarried, than the family should play in important role in making the patient understand about Anorexia nervosa, make decisions, cope with the problem and help them to overcome the disorder. If the patient is married, then the spouse should take the initiative to help the patient to identify the problem and help her to overcome it. An Anorexia patient can be a very anxious, angry and depressed person, and very difficult to deal with. It will take time to help them to overcome the fear of weight gain. Group Therapy is also a very effective treatment for Anorexia. The groups provide support and advice to deal with the problem.
Weight gain is the primary factor while treating Anorexia patients but medication may be required to treat depression. There are many antidepressants which are very effective.
Anorexia patient may need to be hospitalized if she is suffering from severe complications and nutritional treatment can be administered to increase the weight of the patient and the food and weight of the patient can be monitored.
Anyway Anorexia is not incurable. With a lot of patience and proper counseling and treatment, the patient can be cured.