Anorexia Nervosa
Anorexia Nervosa
INTRODUCTION
Anorexia nervosa (AN) is a disorder characterized by the relentless persuit of extreme thinness and weight loss. This disease onsets between the age of 14 and 19 years of age. 90-95% of people who have this disorder are women. There are two types of AN: restricting type and binge-eating/purging type. Both are discussed later. AN deals with a lot of chemical imbalance in the brain. People with AN also suffer from many other disorders such as: depression, OCD, anxiety, personality disorder, and mood swings. Actually research has shown that these other disorders such as depression and OCD may be the cause of AN. AN can be treated by theropy and trying to get the person to maintain their ideal weight. The majority relapse but usually try again and do succeed.
- What is anorexia nervosa (AN)?
--Definition
--Two types of AN
--Onset between 14 and 19 years of age
--90-95% of all cases are women
--To meet the DSM-IV criteria for AN body weight must fall below 85% of ideal body weight
--Sufferers usually have a stong feeling of hunger but ignore it
- What ties does AN have with the chemicals in your brain?
--Serotonin
--Norepinephrine
--Oxytocine + Vasopressin(Kaye, Gendall, Kye, 1998)
--Neuroendocrine(Kaye, Gendall, Kye, 1998)
--Neuropeptide Y + Peptide YY(Kaye, Gendall, Kye, 1998)
--Leptin
- Other disorders AN can cause or the causes of AN
--Depression - 21-91% of anorexics are depressed
--Obssesive Compulsive Disorder - 81-92% of anorexics have this disorder
--Anxiety - 75% anorexics have this disorder
--Personality Disorder - 81% anorexics have this disorder
- Conclusion
I have given you information explaining AN, what chemicals imbalance may be going on and other disorders that could be contributing to this disorder. Just remember this can be a deadly disease and if we can maintain our ideal weight that can be our first step. Maintaining the ideal weight a lot of our chemicals back into balance and then we have to treat the psycological part of AN which can really be another disorder.
By Danette Bowers
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