Anorexia Cure: How anorexia is treated!

The unusual behaviour of people who ignore food to lose weight is termed Anorexia nervosa by doctors. It is considered an eating disorder. People with Anorexia nervosa control their hunger and do not eat anything even if they have a desire to eat. So, it is a condition of self-starvation created by the patient himself. The anorexia cure involves the major roles of doctors, dieticians and psychiatrists.

Who are the victims ?

Generally, adolescent girls are vulnerable to this disease. They start starving themselves for getting the desired figure and actually become undernourished and bone thin. Only 5% of males are anorexics.

Causes of the disorder

Baffling Nature: The cause of Anorexia nervosa is not known but this psychological disorder mostly affects adolescent girls. Hormones, psychological and social factors are mainly responsible for this condition. Adolescence brings tremendous hormonal changes in individuals. At the same time, psychological changes also happen in their life.

Even a small remark from a fellow about fatness can start the desire for an ideal slim body in anorexics. They set very high goals and want instant results. The obsessed patient starts a strict diet and exercises too much. Adolescence is the time when the body requires an appropriate amount of bodybuilding nutrients and this kind of blind dieting makes them excess thin and they become undernourished.

Symptoms of Anorexics

Before tracing the Anorexia Cure, we need to find some symptoms that indicate the underlying problem.

• Hyperactivity, nervousness
• Hair loss
• Brittle nails
• Dry skin
• Intolerance to cold
• A fine layer of hair on body or face
• Depression
• Fatigue
• Irregular or absent periods

Behavioral Symptom

• Refusal to eat anything
• Exercise too much
• Too sensitive about their body image, think too much that they are fat
• Fear of gaining weight
• Sometimes anorexics wear oversized clothes to hide their thinness.

How Anorexia is treated ?

• Identifying health risks: Anorexia once detected should be taken seriously since ignoring it can cause kidney failure, loss of bone mass, and in some cases even death. Treatment involves the combined effort of a doctor, a psychiatrist and a dietitian.
• Joint role of health professionals: Problems that arise due to starvation is treated by the doctor, the psychiatrist tries to find out the possible reasons and proper counselling is done before coming to any conclusion. Dietitian is required to guide how to provide proper nutrition through food to the patient. The role of family members is very important as they spend more time with the patient.
• Start of Treatment: At the beginning of the treatment small amount of easily digestible, nutritious food is given. Eggs, custards, milkshakes, different types of soups can be given. Gradually quantity is increased and a variety of food is given in order to achieve the desired weight according to the patient’s height and age. Variety in food provides sufficient protein for the rebuilding of the body, carbohydrates for providing energy and fat for adding extra calories.

Do’s and don’ts in anorexia treatment

• Variety of nutritious food can be taken frequently.
• Multivitamin supplement can be taken on doctor’s advice.
• Can take high calorie liquid supplement.
• Diet soft drinks and low calorie diet food should not be taken.
• Appetite suppressant should not be taken.
• Diuretics[1] and laxatives should be avoided

Monitoring in anorexia cure

Since relapses are common, close friends, relatives, family members should watch the patient care that the patient is really eating well or pretending to eat But do not try to make food a topic of discussion every time. This could irritate the patient. Reminding every time to eat won’t help so, make a good atmosphere, make the food look attractive and set the table in a nice way. These small things can change the mood and anybody would love to eat.