Medical News

Often parents have dilemmas when it comes to handling their teenaged children, thinking that if they interfere too much, the children might rebel and protest. If they don’t, these kids may think that the parents are not bothered about them and turn to self-destructive behaviors or fall in with bad company.

So it is very important for a parent to be aware of what their child’s lifestyle is all about and gently advise when things are not going right. A parent should see that their child is eating right and is healthy. For instance, emotional problems often create havoc in a teenager’s life, and the parent should be aware if the child’s behavior changes drastically. Mental health is a serious issue at this age, and one problem that often troubles a teenager, especially a girl, is an eating disorder, Anorexia being chief among it. Parents of teenage girls, in particular, should be on a look out for this trouble as it can turn fatal in some cases.

The Signs And Symptoms Of Anorexia

The reason why girls and increasingly boys develop Anorexia is because peer acceptance is very important at this age. Looks and body image matter too much in the social scenario of a teenager; and unrealistic body images seen in the glamour world, influence them very much. While it is important to be of healthy weight, a parent should be alert if their daughter is obsessive about gaining weight. If your child is loosing weight rapidly and still refusing to eat in fear of becoming fat, then it is something to be worried about. Watch out if your child regularly skips major meals like breakfast or dinner and is very fussy when it comes to eating. She may want to eat only low fat items like lettuce, tomatoes or sprouts and making a note of how much calorie that are eating for each and every item in the table. She may even go for diet pills or crash diets to lose weight.

As for physical symptoms, teenagers suffering from anorexia often faint or have dizziness. Their skin and hair may start to dry and in extreme cases; girls may stop having their menstrual cycle. On the emotional front, your child may become irritable and cranky and also refuse to listen to suggestion of seeing a doctor or therapist for their problem or even refusing to admit that they have a problem.

How To Deal With Anorexia

First of all, you have to understand what a normal weight is for your child and when is she overweight. So regularly weighing your child and noting her height in order to calculate her BMI is very important. If she is of normal weight, and still insists on losing weight, then it is time you educate her about the dangers of anorexia. Many teenagers see it as a “cool” thing; so you have to be very tactful and explain to her about the dangers of anorexia on her growing body. Healthy eating should be encouraged and not dieting; one way to do that is encourage your child to participate in the cooking of the family meal. Talking with her regarding her fears and her body image is very important. If the case is very drastic, take the help of a therapist to heal your child.

I have often wondered why models are portrayed as extremely thin women. Does beauty only lie in women who are a size zero? I agree that extra weight on a person will lead to many health complications and hence it is better avoided. But, does everyone have to literally starve themselves to become a size zero in order to be appreciated and in order to be more like the models they see on the television screen?

I think media influences a lot of young women. They want to be like the miserably thin women they see on screen. They want to dress like those women too. Hence they need the kind of body they see on screen. That forces them to starve and get the ideal weight. This is a disease called anorexia nervosa. The best anorexia nervosa treatment is to be understanding towards your loved one who is suffering and spend lots of time with her.

In fact, there are also women who love to eat well. They cannot starve themselves to achieve their unrealistic goal. Hence, after they eat well, they are so plagued with their guilt that they rush for the bathroom and force all the food out. This is called binge eating disorder. The best binge eating disorder treatment is to first recognise that your loved one has a problem and talk to her about it.

When binge eating becomes a part of their daily routine, you will begin to notice the changes in their appearance and behaviour. It is nothing sort of a disease that needs to be treated by a professional. Of course, they will need all the support they can get from you because they will suffer from low self esteem. These patients will need constant monitoring to get back on the right track again. They will need medication and frequent trips to the doctor. They may even be advised hospitalisation.

The best anorexia nervosa treatment is for the person to first realise she has a problem and want to conquer it. She must stay away from places and people who may tempt her. The same goes for binge eating disorder treatment. Keep a lot of healthy foods in the house. Avoid lecturing the person but be supportive and let them learn from your example. Try and reduce stress levels and don’t forget to get professional help. There are lots of eating disorder treatment centers making peoples life.

One may not often consider talk of eating disorders and tooth decay in the same sentence, but the two are actually quite related to one another. While not every person with bad teeth will have them because of such disorders, every person with eating disorders will have bad teeth. Of course, the signs may not be noticeable at first but when the disorder, such as bulimia and anorexia, pass to a certain point, it will be impossible to hide it from the dentist. The very nature of these disorders cause problems that can potentially destroy the teeth and lead to serious dental problems. If you or someone you know suffer from an eating disorder, then here are some things that you should consider about the way that it affects your oral health.

First of all, bulimia involves the vomiting up of ingested foods. These foods have typically gone through stomach acids, which, on the way back up through the mouth, erode the tooth enamel, which protects the teeth and gives them strength. The more that a person engages in bulimia, the more damage these stomach acids can do to the mouth as a whole. It is for this reason that dentists are often the first people, who notice there is a disorder that needs medical attention.

Mexican pharmacy

Secondly, anorexia involves the forced starvation of an individual in a self-imposed manner. The more that a person engages in anorexia, the more likely he or she is to contract osteoporosis. This is a condition characterized by weakened bone structures, of which your jaw is one. Your jawline supports the teeth and when that structure is weakened, the teeth follow suit soon thereafter. Dentists are trained to notice these two conditions at work in the individual. They are, by far, the most common eating disorders out there, and it does not take them long to damage the teeth altogether.

While some cosmetic dentistry procedures are in place to deal with the look of the teeth from a person with an eating disorder, there is nothing that a dentist can do about treating the condition itself. That is something that should receive prompt medical attention and perhaps even psychological counseling to get at the root of the issue. While eating disorders are related to oral hygiene, treating those disorders goes far beyond the mouth to the inner workings of the human brain.

Living with an eating disorder is dangerous if you do not seek the proper help for it. Those that do have a high rate of success with overcoming the condition, but they don’t always take that first step so necessary. Don’t let an eating disorder affect your smile or your life. Get help immediately.

Anorexia is a medical condition in which youngsters, mainly during the onset of puberty, begin to starve themselves thinking they are overweight, even though they are not. They remain under this illusion and as a result, they become extremely thin, bordering on ill health or sometimes death. Such people weigh 15% less than their normal weight.

Symptoms of Anorexia

- Problem with eating
- Weakness and anxiety
- Bones become brittle
- Pregnant women suffer miscarriages
- Irregularity in menstrual cycle, sometimes the cycle skips for 3 months and then resumes
- Irregular heartbeat
- Development of osteoporosis at later age
- Lack of normal body growth
- Fear of gaining weight borders on obsession

Causes of Anorexia

- 56% to 85% of anorexic cases are due to genetic factors.
- Changes in brain function like experiencing extreme mood swings leads to disturbance in serotonin system. This ignites the neurobiological imbalance.
- Lack of appropriate zinc in nutrition accelerates anorexia
- The psychological cause includes obsession with losing weight. They remain under the illusion of gaining weight almost by eating anything. Anorexic people often suffer from substance abuse, depression, obsessive compulsive disorder, personality disorder, and complete lack of self esteem.
- Some become prey to anorexia due to social and economic factors. Some professions like ‘modeling’ demand that models be of size zero almost. Then there is the gender pressure towards females to maintain slim figure. Again, when celebrities endorse anorexic figures, common people try to emulate them and thus, endanger themselves.

However, good news is that it is completely curable. During the adolescent years, it is mandatory that parents and teachers keep check on children and students, and immediately report to the guardians if they display any anorexic symptoms. Lack of awareness is the main reason why people avoid the symptoms and causes. Just to fit in a particular social order or prevalent culture does not mean harming one’s heath.

The most common topic of discussions within the circle of people who want to reduce weight is the eating disorder. This is something they hate to talk about! Considering the nature of eating and the fact that most people suffering from it can also be considered suffering from mental illness such as panic anxiety, indeed an undesirable subject matter. You will know you have eating disorders if you have the following symptoms.

• Constant complain of weight problems
• Obsession with weight
• Dramatic weight loss in a relatively short period of time
• Self starvation
• Continuous diet and visible food restrictions
• Irregular eating patterns
• Obsession with calories and fats in food
• Continuous exercise
• Isolation and manifestation of low self-esteem after eating

According to research there are about 1 million of males and 5 to 10 million of female in the United States are affected by the disorders. Before raising your eye brows you got to hear me out folks. It’s not too late to resolve the disorder. I have the basic yet essential solutions for you. Read on.

Urgent medical attention needs to be taken especially if eating disorder has taken over the physical aspects of the body. You need to pay attention even though the root cause is not physical as it can be fatal. The primary physical symptom of eating disorder is of course, malnourishment. It is described as the discrepancy between the actual body weight and the acceptable weight. Anorexic have a relatively low body weight than normal people within the same age range. Not to mention other risks like cardiac arrest that may lead to sporadic nervous breakdown or stroke, electrolyte imbalance, failure of the liver and in some cases, muscle fatigue due to the irregularity of eating pattern. That said immediate care becomes valuable.

Accepting the truth that eating disorder is indeed a problem can leap your possibility of getting cured. As I have mentioned earlier, eating disorders entail negative physical consequences at the same time that it is a mental illness. There are two kinds of eating disorders; Anorexia and Bulimia, both are caused by crooked image, making you realize that you are fat and that’s actually the beginning of the problem because of the desire to lose weight become an obsession. Admitting the problem is a tough reality and indeed a great challenge that sometimes need a professional help.

Counseling is necessary during this stage; this will help in promoting a healthy body image. It can also be necessary to look for something that can activate this, like depression. These disorders are commonly associated with low self esteem. Treatment for eating disorders can be ongoing and may vary. Most of the time dealing with these psychological issues should be combined with physical care. It is very vital that the sufferer learn new healthier habits that can bring back their normal lifestyle. These tips are very important to overcome eating disorders. It is always the first step to get a professional help. Don’t try to resolve it alone or might only bring you frustrations.

Anorexia and Bulimia are both serious eating disorders, but they are often confused. While they are similar in some ways, they also have some distinct differences. If you’re worried that someone you love may have an eating disorder, you might need some more information before talking to them about it.

Anorexia vs Bulimia: definitions

Anorexia sufferers keep themselves from eating in order to lose weight. They can’t see their bodies the way they really are, to the point that stick-thin anorexics look in the mirror and see only fat. Their response to this distorted body image is discipline. They force themselves to dramatically reduce the amount of food they eat. They starve themselves. If you know someone who eats only tiny amounts of food and makes frequent and insecure comments about weight, they may be anorexic.

Bulimia sufferers have the same complex about body and weight issues, but address the “problem” differently. They binge and purge. This means that they eat large amounts of food and then expel it from their bodies before it truly converts into energy (or in their minds – fat). Bulimics often purge by forcing themselves to vomit, either by gagging themselves or taking a substance that will induce vomiting. A small number of bulimics use laxatives or other means to expel their food.

Anorexia vs Bulimia: detecting the signs

Anorexia is often easier to detect than bulimia, because its symptoms are more difficult to hide. Anorexics lose weight quickly. They often wear baggy clothes to conceal their weight loss, and passionately defend their right to decide what and when to eat. They avoid social situations that might make them eat, like Thanksgiving dinners, parties, or family get-togethers.

Bulimia sufferers have similar body issues but have a “better” system of hiding their behaviors. They purge secretly, and many bulimics maintain a body weight that is slightly more or less than their ideal body weight. The lack of dramatic weight loss doesn’t mean that their condition is any less dangerous. Vital minerals and nutrients are drained from their bodies, and regular vomiting causes serious respiratory and dental problems. In any case of Anorexia vs Bulimia – Bulimia is more difficult to detect.

Anorexia vs Bulimia: Prognosis

Anorexia and Bulimia are both serious eating disorders with frighteningly low recovery rates. Many people live with these conditions and struggle for many years. Recovery is possible and sufferers do find balance and cultivate better relationships with food, but it is not easy. The key is investigating all of the techniques and options for recovery, and finding the one that works best for you or your loved one.

An eating disorder is a serious health condition involving extremely unhealthy dietary habits. There are a number of accepted eating disorder treatments that depend on the symptoms and severity of the illness. The most effective treatments involve both psychological as well as physical issues with the ultimate goal being a healthy dietary lifestyle. The team approach to treatment involves professionals with experience in this field that usually includes a medical provider, mental health workers, registered dietitians and case managers. These individuals work together in hopes of avoiding a life threatening situation.

Psychotherapy or psychological counseling is an integral part of comprehensive eating disorder treatments. With a trained counselor, the patient can develop ways to cope with the issues that led to the disorder. This is especially important in anorexia nervosa treatments because of the overwhelming fear of becoming overweight. Hopefully a psychotherapist can get to the root of these fears and develop effective measures to take for recovery. Anorexia is considered to be a lifelong illness, and counseling may continue indefinitely. There are no medicines for anorexia, but antidepressants are often prescribed in conjunction with other treatments.

Nutritional counseling with the help of a registered dietitian is essential in all relevant treatments. Binge eating treatments focus on meeting nutritional needs by ensuring the correct vitamins and minerals are included in the diet, for example. The dietitian can help adjust the foods consumed to meet changing health needs. Binge eating may be caused by certain biological factors such as a malfunctioning hypothalamus, low serotonin levels and genetic mutation. There are several medications on the market that may help with binge eating, and these should be prescribed by a doctor.

Support groups can be a valuable addition to eating disorder treatments. These groups of people with similar eating disorders make the patient feel less alone, and they receive advice and encouragement. Bulimia nervosa treatments typically involve group therapy for education about the condition as well as strategies to beat it. Antidepressants are often prescribed to help treat bulimia in addition to the other facets of treatment. Cognitive-behavioral therapy has proven effective for those with bulimia, and is often considered the treatment of choice.