Anorexia nervosa is a silent killer that just recently people have started to worry about. Statistics show that 3 out of 20 people with severe anorexia die and one percent of American women have anorexia.

Those numbers are scary but why do teenagers have bad eating behaviors? Some think that it is the media that keeps showing us skinny girls along with selling us unhealthy fast food and that has created a sociocultural way of unhealthy eating behaviors and negative thoughts of our bodies.

However, in anorexia there are physical and emotional factors involved that we cant not ignore. The cause, although unknown, is a combination of different factors that can trigger anorexia.

The physical effects of anorexia are:

cease to menstruate

weight 85% less that the normal weight

strange eating rituals like vomiting, hiding food and avoiding meals.

Some of the consequences are:

the use of drugs and alcohol

damage to brain, loss of memory

loss of mass muscle

weak bones, osteoporosis

hair loss, nail loss

low blood pressure, low heart rate

Mental effects:

A poor and distorted self body image

low self esteem

Obsessive thoughts on losing weight and body fat

denial of the problem, she see its as a lifestyle

become isolated and secretive, avoids social interaction

easily irritated, has feelings of guilt

depression

As you can see a person with anorexia nervosa has many mental and physical symptoms that contribute to the problem. Its very important to get professional help as soon as possible, so the patient can recover and avoid long term health problems.

The support of the family becomes a key factor to help the affected person recover and accept her eating disorder problem. Its important to establish a trusted relationship between the patient and the family as well with the doctors.

If you want to find out information about anorexia nervosa and its dangers, I encourage you to visit here:
Anorexia nervosa effects at http://www.anorexianervosatreatments.net
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