About Anorexia nervosa
In simple terms "Anorexia nervosa" is an obsession to lose weight.
It is characterized as an eating disorder where people have an abnormal overwhelming
fear of being fat and will go to any lengths to reduce, even if they are not
overweight. This problem predominantly occurs in teenage girls but in rare cases
can also affect boys and adults. People, who suffer from this problem, deliberately
take extreme weight loss measures that may be harmful for the body. To lose
weight patients undergo strict dieting and may literally starve themselves (restricting
type). Sometimes patients resort to self induced vomiting and may also abuse
laxatives, diuretics or enemas (binge eating/purging type).
This type of eating disorder is quite serious and can prove to be fatal. The
uncontrolled urge to lose weight often leads to severe malnutrition and can
put various body organs under strain. Anorexia nervosa was first properly diagnosed
in the 1930s and its occurrence has drastically increased since the 1960s as
"being thin" became a criterion for being fashionable.
