What is Anorexia? What are its symptoms?

Anorexia can be described as a psychological disorder, emotional in nature characterized by an obsessive desire to lose weight or stay thin by refusing to eat enough.

Symptoms of anorexia

• Anorexia is a compulsive obsessive disorder where the patient indulges in chronic dieting though he or she is underweight.

• Here the person faces an intense desire to stay thin and is always driven by a strange fear of gaining weight, and skips meals to the extent of malnutrition.

• The anorexic person tends to eat food in small portions and tries to break the food down into tiny pieces before eating so that they get the feeling of eating a whole meal.

• Heavily obsessed with the calorie count and prefers to eat low calorie and low-fat foods.

• Has low self-esteem and always tries to prove his or her point that dieting is because of his or her overweight body.

• Uses laxatives, diuretics, water pills and other diet drugs in order to lose weight and to suppress appetite.

• Exercises in an attempt to stay fit and lose more weight though underweight. This puts extra pressure on the body and as the body is already deprived of nutrients it leads to various health complications like osteoporosis, low BP and liver disorders.

Physical symptoms of anorexic Patients

• Thin physique due to extreme weight loss.

• Anemia due to abnormal blood count.

• Fatigue and dizziness,

• Seizures and fainting

• Thinning of hair and brittleness of both hair and nails.

• The absence of menstruation in females

• Constipation and dehydration.

• Dry and dehydrated skin

• Osteoporosis on account of low calcium in the diet

• Irregular heartbeat and low blood pressure

• The incidence of alcoholism to control hunger.

• Depression and anxiety.

• Obsessed with perfection, wants to be in good shape and stay slim.