Persons suffering from anorexia may refuse to eat and suffer from insomnia. In course of time, emaciation becomes severe.

People with anorexia often deny having a problem; the truth is that anorexia is a serious and potentially deadly eating disorder. More importantly, it is also a psychological disorder. Anorexia is a condition that goes beyond out-of-control dieting. Fortunately, recovery is possible. With proper treatment and support, you or someone you care about can break anorexia’s self-destructive pattern and regain your health and happiness.

The key features of anorexia are:
• Refusal to sustain a minimally normal body weight
• Intense fear of gaining weight, despite being underweight
• Distorted view of one’s body or weight, or denial of the dangers of one’s low weight

Major risk factors for anorexia
• Body dissatisfaction
• Dieting
• Low self-esteem
• Perfectionism
• Childhood sexual abuse
• Family history of eating disorders

Symptoms
• Weight loss (achieved via restricting food or purging it): A person with anorexia will lose weight because, by definition, she refuses to maintain or achieve a body weight of 85% of the expected weight for her age and height.
• Interruption of the menstrual cycle.
• Bone loss (osteoporosis)
• Extra sensitivity to cold
• Bloated stomach after eating (since the stomach loses its ability to deal with a normal quantity of food at one sitting)
• Fine hair  growth on the skin in response to the body’s need for warmth
• Yellowed skin
• Thinning hair
• Dizziness or fainting
• Brittle nails
• Constipation
• Dry skin
• Low blood pressure
• Dehydration

 FEW HOME REMEDIES
o Eating about 2-3 fresh oranges daily increases appetite
o Garlic is considered the wonder drug that increases appetite
o Eating raw tomatoes is also effective
o Consume at least one apple on a daily basis.
o  Take 1 cup water and boil 2-3 cloves in it. Strain and then add on the juice of ½ a lime to this and drink 2 times a day, for a week.
o Warm water enema and application of ice bags on the stomach.
You should always avoid taking excess of alcohol and refrain from smoking, as these are the agents that increase your chances of suffering from anorexia.

So to do away with this disorder, you should follow a good diet chart that includes every nutritious food and avoid taking unnecessary stress and tension. For, proper cleansing of your digestive tract is the only solution to free yourself from anorexia. Regular exercising also helps a great deal in curing anorexia.

This entry was posted on Thursday, September 4th, 2008 at 6:36 am and is filed under Health Issues. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.