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What is Anorexia?

People with Anorexia Nervosa suffer an intense fear of gaining weight and refuse to stay at a healthy body weight for their age or height. Many people at some point in their lives need to make an effort to lose weight to stay healthy and fit.  However, when it becomes an unhealthy obsession, that is the realm of Anorexia Nervosa. These people focus intensely on their body fat and keep their weight far below the appropriate, healthy range. They view weight loss and gain as factors of diligence and self-control, and any gains haunt them until that weight is lost.

These people use different methods of losing weight in order to accomplish their goals.  They eat little or nothing, purge, over exercise, and use laxatives, diuretics, diet pills, or other weight loss products. The most striking signs are the exceptionally low body weight and constant obsession over areas of body fat. Other easily visible physical signs include thinning hair, yellowing skin or eyes, growth of soft body hair, leg swelling, and general weakness. Additionally, people who purge by vomiting develop calluses on their hands, damaged teeth, and swollen cheeks.  Anorexia Nervosa can initially masquerade as a nutrition absorption disorder, food allergy, or even cancer due to the dramatically low weight.

Anorexia usually appears in adolescence and young adulthood. It rarely begins before puberty or after age 40. The beginning of the disorder is often associated with a stressful life event. Stress combined with a predisposition to poor self-esteem can lead people to associate negative feelings that they cannot control with weight, which they can control.

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