The most common cause of anorexia is the natural satiety that is experienced after eating a certain amount of food. This is a characteristic of the physiology known as postprandial anorexia.
However, anorexia can appear when the subject suffers from an inflammation of the mucosa of his intestines, an infection or a neoplastic process. Also when the person uses drugs or develops certain psychological imbalances, such as depression or anorexia nervosa. In this case, the true cause that causes it is not entirely clear but, according to the studies that have been carried out, it is intuited that the main factor that contributes to its development is culture, the social stereotype of beauty. However, it is considered that some people are born with a genetic predisposition to suffer from this disorder, regardless of the pressure they receive.
The latter disease, anorexia nervosa, is one of the most common eating disorders. The sick person seeks to lose weight and voluntarily starves himself. This disorder is detected by a doctor after analyzing the relationship that is established between the individual's behavior with respect to food and their own weight. When anorexia nervosa causes a very pronounced weight loss, the patient experiences all kinds of health problems and may even die.
Although we said that anorexia refers to loss of appetite, in reality this etymological meaning is not exact in the case of anorexia nervosa. Patients may feel hungry and want to eat frequently, although they suppress this intention and refuse to eat because they do not want to gain weight. On the other hand, those affected always think that they are fat, even when the reality is very different.
The anorexia nervosa mainly affects women of middle and upper class and can be mild (s transient) or severe (is durable). It usually begins at 12 years of age (early adolescence) and is most common in gymnasts, dancers, and models. There are two subtypes of anorexia:
Restrictive: in which weight is reduced through diets and extreme physical exercise.
Compulsive or bulimic: in which the individual compulsively ingests amounts of food and uses the purge to eliminate it from his body motivated by the feeling of guilt.
Some of the symptoms that patients with anorexia present are sudden weight loss, a fear of gaining weight (caused by a distorted perception of their own body, which makes them look overweight and what leads them to kill themselves with fasting and eating less and less), absence of three consecutive menstrual cycles, in the case of women, and constipation, abdominal pain and vomiting, in patients of both sexes.
They also present an excessive concern for the composition of food, in terms of calories and an obsession with image, weight, sports and studies, they build a hyperactive routine and avoid everything they can talk about food. It should also be added that these people show a change in behavior, become extremely irritable and in some cases also suffer from cognitive disorders related to eating and physical condition.
The organic symptoms that allow specialists to diagnose this disease are: reduction in heart rate, arrhythmias, decrease in blood pressure, amenorrhea, decrease in bone mass, anemia, dehydration and appearance of long and fine hair (woolly) in the forearms, thighs, back, cheeks and neck, among others. To make the diagnosis also requires the presence of a therapist who can determine that the person really has an eating disorder.
People with anorexia or bulimia present immature behavior, are highly dependent on the family environment (in some cases they do not assume it) and are very afraid of sexual maturation and assuming responsibilities. However, it is necessary to take into account that both diseases differ from each other.
Disease development and treatment
The process that people with anorexia go through is usually: first abandoning carbohydrates in the diet, later fats and proteins, until reaching fluids (there have been cases of extreme dehydration); These measures are usually added to ingesting diuretics, laxatives and medications that help purge the body, excessive physical exercise and provoked vomiting. In the most severe cases of anorexia, weight loss can reach 50% of body mass. It is a disease with a psychological origin and that can be detected in a sudden change in behavior, the stigmatization of the body and complexes that are reflected in emotional behavior.
People who produce excess histamine have characteristics such as little hair, are naturally thin, long fingers and toes, large ears, and large central incisors. They also produce a lot of saliva and are physically attractive, they tend to suffer from muscle cramps and allergies, among other problems; they are shy, sensitive, and tend to be depressed, have abnormal fears, act compulsively, and have suicidal thoughts.
The treatment to end anorexia is focused on correcting malnutrition and the psychic conflicts that led the patient to develop this disease. The fundamental thing is to get the patient to regain his normal weight, but once this is achieved it does not mean that the disease has been overcome, it is necessary for the patient to receive psychiatric treatment to understand and definitively overcome anorexia.
In cases where the patient presents a severe malnutrition, it is necessary that he be admitted for a greater control of his real recovery; the same is recommended if relationships with the family are not conducive to recovery and when mental disorders are accentuated.
Once the patient has been able to regain the recommended weight, psychological treatment begins, through which the patient is expected to restructure his ideas and get a realistic perception of his body, improve his self-esteem and efficiently develop skills social and communicative with their environment.
Family members and people close to the patient must also participate in the treatment, because they are essential for the patient's recovery. It should be noted that in many cases the family is the trigger for it. It is important that the patient learns to manage his anxiety and that the family tries not to make food a topic of discussion (the worst thing for an anorexic is that he is forced to eat), professional help should be used and above all, have a lot of patience.
Among the therapies used to treat anorexia are: cognitive behavioral therapy, family therapy, group therapy, exclusive support groups for anorexics, and drug treatments (antidepressants, antipsychotics, and mood stabilizers).