Anorexia nervosa: treatment, types, possible causes, symptoms and consequences

Anorexia is a pathology associated with a person's craving for food. It is expressed in the absence of a desire to eat and the rejection of products. This phenomenon leads to depletion of the body, a decrease in the quality of life of the individual, the development of dangerous complications. The saddest consequence of anorexia is death. It is known that a person loses the craving for food as a result of the influence of many factors. This, for example, pain, various pathologies, the belief that thinness is beautiful.

The causes of the development of an eating disorder and methods of therapy are described in this article.

Factors provoking anorexia

This condition may occur under the influence of circumstances such as:

1. Genetic background.
2. Relationship problems with relatives.
3. The negative impact of society (the influence of the media, because of which people are convinced that thinness is the ideal of beauty).
4. Disorders of organs (due to cancer pathologies, surgical interventions).
5. Diseases of the psyche.

With anorexia, treatment should be timely and qualified. In order to avoid consequences that pose a threat to life, in case of signs of the disease should consult a doctor.

Varieties of Eating Disorder

This condition is a pathology that has been known to mankind since ancient times. The disease is associated with the development of disorders in the body, severe exhaustion, weak immunity. All these factors often lead to the death of an individual. However, to date, in the case of anorexia, treatment, comprehensive and competent, allows sixty percent of patients to completely get rid of the disease.

Speaking about the varieties of the disease, experts distinguish the following options:

1. Primary
2. Mental.
3. Caused by drugs.
4. Nervous.

The first type of pathology occurs due to improper diet. For example, if relatives overfeed the children, treat them with a lot of sweets, make them eat, at a later age this can cause deviations in eating behavior. A person refuses foods at a reflex level.

Anorexia often occurs against the background of the use of medicines that are aimed at treating pathologies of the heart, respiratory tract, and eliminating pain. Similar drugs reduce food cravings. Sometimes refusal of food is observed in people taking drugs. These substances can also cause loss of appetite.

Mental type anorexia is associated with mental health disorders: suicide attempts, emotional instability, increased anxiety, ambiguous attitude to your body.

In severe cases, refusal to eat and its consequences lead to a decrease in brain mass. This phenomenon is proven by medical science. Losing weight, this body cannot normally carry out its activities. This explains the phenomenon of cerebral anorexia.

Another type of disease is associated with the widespread idea that thinness is a symbol of success. Such propaganda is carried out in many media. Anorexia nervosa, symptoms, diagnosis and treatment are described in the following sections.

Why is there an obsessive desire to lose weight?

Deviations that are related to attitudes toward food are most common in adolescents, with girls more prone to this condition than boys. The average age of patients varies from 14 to 20 years. Anorexia nervosa - what is it? There is a lot of information about the symptoms and treatment of the disease. Its manifestations boil down to the following:

1. The desire to reduce weight, which is of great importance to humans.
2. Actions aimed at losing weight (the patient provokes vomiting after eating food, drinks laxatives, diuretic medicines).
3. Taking medications that reduce appetite.
4. Exhausting workouts.
5. Diet, fasting for a long time.

It should be noted that this disease is associated with impaired body functions, but personal difficulties become its cause. According to experts, treatment of anorexia involves not only eliminating health problems and lack of weight, but also developing the correct settings for the patient.

How does the disease progress?

Specialists distinguish the following stages of anorexia nervosa:

1. Initial. This stage is characterized by the fact that the individual has the idea that he is overweight. A person can blame relatives for contributing to this problem, giving an excessive amount of food. The patient feels depressed. From time to time, he cuts off portions of food and resorts to fasting days. The duration of this phase of the disease is usually at least three years.
2. The stage of combating an imaginary physical defect. Sometimes, as a result of reproaches from relatives or jokes from friends, the individual is convinced that he is overweight. This thought forces the patient to take active steps to get rid of the gained kilograms. At the same time, the patient, strictly restricting himself in food, talks a lot about cooking and often cooks for family or friends, persuading them to try new dishes. The mood changes dramatically from depressed to joyful (after a person is convinced of the good results of losing weight). If loved ones ask the individual to eat normally, he reacts violently to these words. This phase is characterized by the appearance of various ailments. The balance of essential substances in the body is disturbed.
3. Stage of exhaustion. At this stage, pronounced signs of the disease are noticeable. A person has a malfunction of the heart muscle, gastrointestinal tract, urinary tract and genital area. The patient loses much weight, peeling areas appear on his skin, the spine is deformed, the skin turns yellow. The individual can hardly eat because of the pathology of the stomach. At this stage of anorexia nervosa, the treatment of the disease is carried out only in a psychiatric clinic.

Visible manifestations of the disorder

How to recognize a violation at an early stage of development? There are several signs of pathology:

1. Weight loss due to food restrictions. A person consumes a very small amount of food. To reduce cravings for food, the patient uses chewing gum or candies.
2. The individual refuses to eat in a cafe or in the circle of relatives.
3. Eating excessive amounts of food at night, followed by inducing a vomiting reflex or taking a laxative.
4. The patient hides the products from himself.

Speaking about anorexia nervosa, the causes and treatment of pathology, experts emphasize that the timely detection of symptoms and the start of therapy can avoid the sad consequences.

Formidable complications

An eating disorder causes serious health problems. The most common of them are:

1. Reducing the frequency of contractions of the heart muscle.
2. Frequent fainting, constant feeling of cold.
3. Dry skin, excessive hair growth on the face and body of women, brittle nails.
4. Deterioration of the teeth and inflammatory processes in the gums.
5. Frequent infections.
6. Imbalance of hormones.
7. Termination of the critical day, inability to conceive.
8. Disorder of sexual function in males.
9. The fragility of bone tissue.
10. Lack of glucose and potassium.
11. Violation of motor functions.
12. Pain in the area of ​​the heart muscle, back.
13. Severe disorders of the urinary tract and gastrointestinal tract.
14. Severe swelling of the extremities and face, joint inflammation.
15. Constant fatigue, decreased memory and attention, poor mood and inability to do work.
16. Aggressive reactions.
17. Excessive isolation, complete isolation from society, attempted suicide.

Many institutions today are engaged in the study and treatment of anorexia. In Moscow, the RAMS Institute is one of them.

Abnormalities in eating behavior and pregnancy

Since pathology is accompanied by severe violations of body functions, it may seem that the probability of conception in such a patient is zero. However, sometimes there are situations when the patient finds out that she will soon become a mother. She is unlikely to experience positive emotions about this news, because she will be afraid to gain weight during the gestation. As a rule, in such cases, women terminate the pregnancy, but some still refuse to have an abortion and decide to save the child.

Sometimes, as a result of therapy, the symptoms of pathology become less pronounced, but after delivery the girl again becomes ill, because she is trying to control body weight. If the patient finds out about conception, she needs to inform the doctor about it. With anorexia, treatment and observation should be constant, and only a specialist deals with this issue. After all, this disorder during pregnancy threatens both the mother and the baby. In such cases, premature delivery often occurs, various health problems in the baby. Women with anorexia during the gestation period often suffer from depressive disorder.

Abnormalities in eating behavior in men

Oddly enough, people of the stronger sex are also subject to this disease, although to a lesser extent than girls. As a rule, pathology is caused by such reasons as:

1. Mental disorders.
2. Excessive body weight in childhood.
3. Features of the professional sphere (fashion models, athletes, artists).
4. Passion for spiritual practices and creeds, raw food diet, refusal to eat meat or any other products.

The disease occurs in both young men and people of mature age. With the development of this disorder, a man believes that he is overweight. However, such a belief is initially false. Individuals interested in various religious teachings, as the main motive for food restrictions, say that food is an obstacle to spiritual development or that certain foods are forbidden. Representatives of the stronger sex, like girls, use various ways to get rid of an imaginary defect in appearance (diet, fasting days). Men who are worried about their problem are not inclined to share negative emotions with relatives and friends. Therefore, relatives often seek the help of specialists only when the patient’s health and life are already at risk. Deviations in eating behavior adversely affect the patient's appearance: he looks exhausted, pale, feels weak.

The character of the man also changes: withdrawal appears, symptoms of schizophrenic disorder. In anorexia nervosa, treatment of the stronger sex is usually carried out only in a psychiatric clinic. Pathology is caused by certain personality difficulties, therefore, a specialist works with the patient, who helps to cope with mental problems.

Features of the course of the disease in childhood

In medical practice, there are many cases of the development of eating disorders in minors.

Often such patients suffer from misunderstanding among relatives, coldness and alienation from relatives. A typical situation that develops in the family of such a child is as follows: an overbearing, controlling mother and an estranged father who takes almost no part in the upbringing. Sometimes juvenile anorexia patients suffer from gastrointestinal tract disorders. At the beginning of the course of the disease, some of them increase their craving for food.

With regard to personality traits, such children are prone to stubbornness and excessive conscientiousness. They, as a rule, study well at school, strive to please others around them.

Eating disorders are more common in girls who, in the puberty, experience worries about changes in their bodies, do not want to become adults.

Unfortunately, with anorexia in children, treatment often begins quite late, when signs of the disease become noticeable to others. Therefore, parents should be careful about any changes in the eating behavior of their daughter or son.

Diagnostic measures

Only a specialist can clearly establish the presence of a given deviation in a person. When a patient seeks medical help, the doctor conducts an examination, talks with him, paying attention to such criteria:

1. Pathological weight loss (patient's body weight is below the norm by fifteen percent).
2. Weight loss as a result of diets, diuretics and laxatives, gag reflex.
3. Confidence of a person that he is overweight.
4. Cessation of growth and development (in children and persons of puberty).

In modern clinics for the treatment of anorexia, the patient undergoes a series of examinations. They include CT scans of the brain, laboratory tests of biomaterial and examination by specialists (gynecologist, gastroenterologist, general practitioner).

Therapy

To get rid of this dangerous disease, a person needs to use the medicines prescribed by a doctor. As a rule, a whole range of drugs is prescribed. It includes:

1. Means that restore the balance of the necessary substances in the body (for example, "Polyamine").
2. Drugs to combat depressive disorder (Fevarin, Zoloft).
3. Medicines that help normalize the function of the digestive tract (Mezim, Pancreatin).
4. Vitamin supplements (Carnitine, cobalamin).

With deviations in eating behavior (bulimia, anorexia), treatment includes psychotherapy. A specialist during a conversation with a patient should first of all convince him that gaining weight is necessary for life. The doctor explains to the patient some important aspects regarding a healthy diet and normal body weight. The therapist helps a person understand what difficulties need to be overcome in order to successfully communicate and work in the future. In addition, experts apply the technique of hypnosis.

An important role in the recovery of the patient is played by relations with relatives. It is important to correct problems within the family. This is especially true for the treatment of anorexia in adolescents, since at this age people are especially sensitive. Doctors recommend that parents of patients not blame their children, but build trusting relationships with them.

Naturally, the fight against eating disorders includes the use of medications. However, psychotherapeutic techniques are present in modern clinics, and this is justified. Treatment of anorexia in the hospital, which, unfortunately, is rarely avoided, is associated with a depressed patient and anxiety.

It is important to create a comfortable environment for the person.

Diet

Nutrition with this pathology helps to establish the functions of organs and systems. Weight gain occurs a little later. First, the diet should contain a small amount of calories. With anorexia, treatment and nutrition are usually carried out in a hospital. If the patient's condition is serious, he is prescribed bed rest, glucose and drugs are used to suppress the vomiting reflex. When health is stabilized, the person is given juices, then liquid products (mashed fruits and berries, decoctions). In order not to overload the digestive tract, food should be taken 6 times a day in small doses, drink enough water. Then go to the vegetarian menu. Low-fat dairy products are allowed. This regimen persists for 10 days. Then small portions of low-fat boiled fish, poultry, caviar and meat are introduced, as well as greens, vegetables and steamed omelets, jelly from fruits and berries. With anorexia, treatment consists of taking vitamin complexes that help accelerate the patient's recovery.

Can I cope with the disease at home?

Sometimes people with this pathology do not undergo therapy in a hospital. This is only possible when a person has a mild form of deviation. The treatment of anorexia at home in adults involves the patient's awareness of his problem. Unfortunately, this happens quite rarely. Most individuals deny that they have any kind of violation. To cope with the pathology yourself, you need to have a strong will. Even if a person is not in a hospital setting, he is better off still undergoing therapy under the supervision of a doctor. It is also advisable to attend group or individual psychotherapy sessions. , .

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The diet should be agreed with specialists (therapist and nutritionist). Patients with eating disorders are afraid to gain excess weight during therapy. Therefore, consultations with a doctor about the right choice of products are necessary. Exercise helps increase appetite. However, you should not get too involved in training. Before you play sports, you need to consult a doctor. An important role in anorexia, treatment at home is played by the support of relatives. It is necessary to try to distract the patient from heavy thoughts, choose joint hobbies, ways of relaxation.