Individuals with anorexia have not simply gone overboard with dieting; anorexia is a serious medical condition. According to the Mayo Clinic, approximately 1.2 million Americans have anorexia, and 6 to 20 percent of those individuals eventually die from the disease. Anorexia is a chronic condition, and even with treatment, many individuals do not recover fully. Losing weight is central to the condition and can cause irreparable damage to the body, making diagnosis and treatment essential.
Diagnosis
Anorexia, also called anorexia nervosa, is an eating disorder characterized by an individual's refusal to maintain a body weight within 15 percent of normal, according to the National Alliance on Mental Illness, or NAMI. This refusal is typically accompanied by a strong fear of gaining weight, an absence of at least three consecutive menstrual periods in women, a distorted body image and a denial of the seriousness of the situation. The weight loss involved in anorexia is drastic and is accomplished in a variety of ways. Decreased body weight results in medical complications and even death.
Anorexic Weight Loss Methods
Two subtypes of anorexia exist. In the restricting subtype, an individual achieves and maintains low body weight by restricting food consumption and, usually, exercising excessively. The other subtype is labeled the binge eating/purging subtype, and individuals with this subtype binge eat, and then purge the food or calories they consume. Individuals with anorexia typically eat low-calorie, low-fat foods, eliminate meat from their diets and restrict caloric intake to less than 1,000 calories daily, explains NAMI. Purging may involve self-induced vomiting, excessive exercise, laxative or enema abuse and the use of diuretics. NAMI states that many anorexics vacillate between the two subtypes.
Health Consequences of Weight Loss
Drastic weight loss can cause serious, often permanent, health consequences. Individuals with anorexia do not give their bodies the nutrients necessary to function properly, so the body slows down and enters a starvation mode, explains the National Eating Disorder Association, or NEDA. The anorexic individual's heart rate slows and blood pressure drops, which signify changes in the heart muscles, states NEDA. As these symptoms get worse, the risk for heart attack increases. Other health problems include loss of bone density, loss of muscle, weakness, severe dehydration that can lead to kidney failure, fatigue and hair loss.
Treatment and Recovery
Many of the health complications of anorexia can be ameliorated by gaining weight, but only about half of patients diagnosed with anorexia fully recover, according to NAMI. Other surviving individuals continue to be anorexic or live with other types of eating disorders. Once weight stabilizes, treatment can involve psychotherapy, medications, support groups and work with a nutritionist to establish a healthy meal plan. A treatment team consisting of physicians, dietitians, psychiatrists, psychologists and nurses is usually assembled to ensure a comprehensive approach to treatment and recovery.
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