Eating Disorder Research

Anorexia Nervosa Anorexia nervosa or aneroxia is the most common eating disorder. This condition is a fairly recent phenomena, most often observed in young girls and women. What Is Anorexia? Aneroxia is a condition whereby you have a distorted view of body proportions. In your mind, you are obssessed with thoughts of being overweight when in fact you are not likely to. You are worried about having fat on your body when there is actually no cause for worry. To lose weight, you engage in excessive exercising, dieting and losing weight. Thoughts like going without meals and surviving on merely 5 carrots a day preoccupies your mind. Anorexia is largely considered a psychological disorder. What Triggers Anorexia? Many say that it is the constant slew of marketing visuals that influence a person's idea of how the perfect body should look like. Thse visuals invade everywhere; from fashion magazines, from the stores, newspapers, from the TV or from the internet. Models and movie stars become anorexic as they want to look good in photographs. They are also told harshly by their agencies if they are not getting modelling jobs due to the extra bit of fat or if they do not fit into a dress of size zero. By becomming rail thin, these models and celebrities unwittingly send the wrong signals to many impressionable young women. What Are Some Of The Aneroxia Symptoms? Anorexia nervosa symptoms differ from that of bulimia. Bulimia is an eating disorder whereby you intentionally purged through vomiting, laxatives or enemas after a binge eating episode. Wiith anorexia, you want to achieve your ideal body proportion and weight through voluntary starvation, excessive exercise, diet pills and unbalanced diets. Unfortunately, all the unhealthy habits associated with anorexia nervosa can result in considerable damage to your body organs and systems. You can cause damage to your digestive system (including your esophagus and stomach), your cardiovascular system and muscular tissues. With inadequate nutrition, you also weaken your immune system. It can also have a negative impact on your hormonal levels. The condition comes in several levels of intensities but generally, the symptoms are: -- refuses to maintain a normal body weight appropriate for your age, height and constitution -- an emotional and psychologically-driven fear of becoming fat (even though you may look of average weight) and gaining extra weight -- denial of the gravity and seriousness of the current low body weight -- repeated periods of voluntary starvation, excessive exercise or any of the forms in which anorexia may appear. Even though you do not have all the above-mentioned factors at the same time, or you have them in reduced lower intensities, this does not mean that you do not have anorexia. How Common Is Aneroxia? Studies now show that aneroxia is a very real concern in almost half of today's teenagers and young men and women ages 20-30. Many of them have experienced at least a mild form of anorexia when they feel down regarding their body shape. It is also not true that this condition happens to only women. More men nowdays are also paying attention to their appearance. Still, even with anorexia, their condition is likely to be more mild. What Can You Do If You Have Anorexia Symptoms? If you find that you find that you are experiencing a lack of energy as a result of your intense dieting, then it is time to consider if you have anorexia symptoms. Your close friends and family members may also be draw your attention to your abnormal behaviour in your eating habits. If this is the case, go for a proper diagnosis and seek professional help. If you allow your condition to escalate, know that in severe cases, anorexia can cause death. About the author: Are you surviving on 5 carrots a day? Sandra Kim Leong writes on eating disorders. For more information and research, please visit her site at http://www.eating-disorder-research.com