Anorexia nervosa
From Wikipedia, a free encyclopedia written in simple English for easy reading.
Anorexia nervosa is a disorder. It is like a disease. People who have the disorder think that they are too fat or that they eat too much.
It is a complex situation, and not easy to describe. Many factors play a role.
The common symptoms are:
- Eating too little. Starving oneself.
- Exercising too much. The idea is that exercise burns calories.
[edit] The four DSM IV criteria
The following is the definition of anorexia nervosa from the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, used to assist doctors in making a clinical diagnosis. This definition may not be representative of what an individual sufferer feels or experiences in living with the illness. Additionally, it is important to note that an individual may still suffer from a health- or life-threatening eating disorder (e.g., subclinical anorexia nervosa or ED-NOS: eating disorder, not otherwise specified) even if one of the below signs is not present. In particular, a substantial number of patients diagnosed with ED-NOS meet all criteria for diagnosis of anorexia nervosa except the requirement of three consecutive missed menstrual cycles.
- The patient does not want to keep a body weight that is usual for their age and height.
- Intense fear of gaining weight. The patient sees himself or herself as being fat.
- Low self esteem because of the shape or weight of the body of the patient. Patients are also often unable to see a problem in the low body weight.
- Women who have not gone through the menopause have not had three consecutive menstrual cycles, and are not pregnant.
[edit] Two different types
- Restricting Type. People with this type do not use vomiting or drugs to lose weight. They also do not overeat (called binge eating, eating far too much at times).
- Binge-Eating Type or Purging Type: The person has used vomiting or drugs, or overeaten.
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