The Devastating Effects of Anorexia on the Human Body
Introduction
Anorexia nervosa, a serious mental illness, not only takes a toll on the body but also has the highest mortality rate among all mental health disorders. The longer individuals struggle with this eating disorder, the more likely they are to face life-threatening consequences. Let’s delve into the detrimental effects anorexia can have on various systems of the human body.
The Impact on Bones
The onset of anorexia typically occurs during adolescence, a crucial time for building bone mass that supports lifelong skeletal health. Unfortunately, individuals with anorexia often experience bone loss early on, leading to irreversible complications that can manifest within months of disordered eating behaviors.
- Significant bone loss can appear as early as six months after the onset of anorexia.
- Dr. Diane Mickley emphasizes the importance of building bone mass during adolescence to prevent long-term skeletal issues.
Cardiovascular Damage
One of the most life-threatening consequences of anorexia is the damage inflicted on the heart. As individuals lose muscle mass, their heart muscle also weakens, leading to cardiac issues that can be exacerbated by physical activity. Heart damage is a common cause of hospitalization among individuals struggling with anorexia.
- Cardiac damage can be acute and significant, posing immediate risks to individuals with anorexia.
- Heart complications, as seen in the case of singer Karen Carpenter, highlight the severity of cardiovascular effects associated with anorexia.
Exploring the Complexities of Anorexia and Its Impact Beyond the Surface
The Interplay of Anorexia and Reproductive Health
Beyond its physical ramifications, anorexia can profoundly impact reproductive health, particularly in young women. The disruption of menstrual cycles, even before significant weight loss, can have long-term implications on fertility and childbirth. It’s essential to address these lesser-known challenges associated with anorexia.
Unique Health Complications of Bulimia
In conjunction with anorexia, bulimia presents its own set of health complications, particularly concerning digestive health. The chronic purging associated with bulimia can lead to digestive disorders like reflux and esophagitis, underscoring the critical need for comprehensive treatment approaches to address the multifaceted nature of eating disorders.
Challenges in Accessing Adequate Treatment
Many individuals with anorexia struggle to access timely and comprehensive treatment due to various barriers, including financial constraints and misconceptions about the nature of eating disorders. Addressing these challenges is crucial to ensure that individuals receive the necessary support and care to overcome the complexities of anorexia.
Summary
Overall, anorexia nervosa not only affects the physical health of individuals but also extends its reach to impact various aspects of their well-being, including bone health, cardiovascular function, reproductive health, and digestive health. By shedding light on the lesser-known consequences of anorexia, we can foster greater understanding and compassion for those grappling with this debilitating illness.
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Anorexia nervosa takes a huge toll on the body. But that is not all. It has the highest mortality rate of all mental illnesses. Between 5% and 20% of people who develop the disease eventually die from it. The longer you have it, the more likely you are to die from it. Even for those who survive, the disorder can damage almost every system in the body.
What exactly is happening? Here’s a look at what anorexia does to the human body.
The first victim of anorexia is usually the bones. The disease usually develops in adolescence, just when young people are supposed to be accumulating the critical bone mass that will sustain them into adulthood.
“There is a narrow window of time to build up bone mass that will last a lifetime,” says Diane Mickley, MD, co-president of the National Eating disorders Association and founder and director of the Wilkins Center for Eating disorders in Greenwich, Connecticut. “You’re supposed to infuse bone and instead you’re losing it.” Similar bone loss It can appear as early as six months after anorexic behavior begins, and is one of the most irreversible complications of the disease.
But the most life-threatening damage is usually the chaos caused in the heart. As the body loses muscle mass, it loses heart muscle at a preferential rate, so the heart becomes smaller and weaker. “It gets worse as circulation increases in response to exercise, and pulse and blood pressure blood pressure “The cardiac damage is acute and significant, and appears quickly.” Heart damage, which ultimately killed singer Karen Carpenter, is the most common reason for hospitalization in most people with anorexia.
Although the heart and bones usually suffer the most damage, anorexia is a multisystem disease. Virtually no part of the body escapes its effects. About half of all anorexics have low white blood cell counts and about a third are anemic. Both conditions can reduce the immune system’s resistance to disease, leaving a person vulnerable to infections.
Even before a person with anorexia begins to look “too thin,” these medical consequences have already begun.
Many young women who begin eating a very restricted diet stop menstruating long before significant weight loss occurs. Since so many people with anorexia are teenagers and young women, this can have long-term consequences on their ability to have children.
“In truly recovered anorexics and bulimics, the rate, frequency and number of pregnancies appear to be normal,” says Mickley. “However, if you look at infertility clinics and clinic patients who have infrequent or absent periods, most of them seem to have hidden illnesses.” eating disorders. “They may think they are fully recovered, but they haven’t gained enough weight.”
Many women with anorexia would prefer to seek Fertility treatment than treatment for her eating disorder, Mickley says. And even among women who have fully recovered from their anorexia and bulimia, there may be a slightly higher rate of miscarriages and cesarean sections. “There may also be up to a 30% higher incidence of postpartum depression compared to other women,” she says.
Bulimia, which often goes hand in hand with anorexia, causes its own health damage. Bulimics who purge vomiting wreak havoc on their digestive tracts by chronically bathing them in stomach acid, which can lead to digestive disorders like reflux. esophagitis.
“I feel like I’ve been drinking Draino,” said one woman who posted on a digestive illness forum about the consequences of her lifelong anorexia and bulimia. Some reported cases suggest that bulimia may have led to a condition called Barrett’s esophaguswhich can lead to esophagus cancer.
The good news: many of these complications can be reversible if the person returns to a normal weight. “If the results are to be reversed, the real focus must be on weight regain,” says Dr. Rebecka Peebles, an adolescent medicine specialist at Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital in Palo Alto, California. “That’s the most essential part of treatment. You can’t wait for this to happen. It really is an essential first step in treatment and recovery.”
Unfortunately, experts say, too many people believe that anorexia is strictly a psychological disorder and ignore its medical complications unless the patient becomes visibly and dangerously thin. “Many people (parents and even some doctors) think that the medical complications of anorexia only occur when you are so thin that you are wasting away,” Peebles says. “Professionals need to understand that a good therapist is only one part of the treatment for anorexia and other eating disorders, and that these patients also need treatment from a doctor.”
Studies have found that many people who need treatment for anorexia do not receive it. In large part, this may be due to cost. Inpatient treatment can cost more than $30,000 per month, while outpatient treatment can cost up to $100,000 per year.
Melissa Román, a Miami woman who has been recovering from anorexia for several years, pays $800 a month out of pocket for therapy sessions that sure will not cover. According to the National Eating Disorders Coalition, health insurance companies pay for an average of 10 to 15 treatment sessions for people with eating disorders, when more long-term care (up to 40 sessions) may be needed for true recovery.
“Access to health care is a huge problem,” Mickley says. “Eating disorders are not staged as cancer is, then we have no way to convince sure companies that a low potassium level can be like a small metastasis. Only recently have we begun to understand the genetic and neurochemical basis of anorexia and to say that it is a real disease, not the whim of spoiled rich girls. “It has been treated as something voluntary and deliberate, rather than what it is: a serious and life-threatening medical and psychiatric illness.”
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