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Biological causes of anorexia
Psychological, environmental and biological causes of eating disorders
Biological causes of anorexia
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An eating disorder is a serious emotional and physical problem that can cause many difficulties, mild and severe, to those who have one. People with an eating disorder tend to eat a large amount of food, or do completely the opposite and basically starve themselves. There are many eating disorders. The main ones are anorexia, binge, and bulimia. Anorexia is when the person is very concerned about their weight and body image so they eat hardly anything to keep from adding more weight. Bulimia is when the person eats a huge portion of food and they follow by getting it to come back up, also known as binge eating. Sometimes, they will also fast or do extreme exercising after binging. Other eating disorders that are less common are atypical anorexia nervosa, which is basically the opposite of normal anorexia; night eating syndrome, which is when you eat lots of food at nighttime; and purging disorder, which is when you purge without binge eating. (“Types & Symptoms of Eating Disorders”) A biological factor, which is when things are related by blood or living organisms, that can cause an eating disorder is genes. Eating disorders have been shown to run in families. So if anyone that is blood related to you has …show more content…
One example of this is a sport or activity that requires you to be smaller and have a fit body. Examples of sports like this that require thinness are gymnastics, ballet, wrestling, long distance running, and diving. (“Eating Disorders: Causes, Symptoms, Signs, & Treatment Help”) Also, childhood trauma, family issues or any kind of relationship problems can contribute to the development of these disorders. Even stressful life changes, such as moving to a new school or going anyplace where you feel like you don’t belong, can also aid in helping this disorder develop in people’s lives. Being made fun of or laughed at for your weight in the past is also another
One possible factor is biology. A person might inherit a gene from their parents that predisposes them to a susceptibility to eating disorders. While that may not be enough on its own, it certainly starts that person off on the wrong foot and if combined with other factors it can lead to an eating disorder. For example, an individual could inherit a slow metabolism causing them to put on weight faster than others, which in turn could cause them to develop an eating disorder to counteract the weight gain.
This book provides information on what these conditions are, what causes them, how people live with them, and the latest about treatment and prevention. The book focuses on eating disorders as a whole rather than just individual types of disorders. The source is not up to date at it was published six years ago and the statistics have changed and there is now more knowledge on eating disorders such as using neuroimaging to find what triggers eating disorders. The sources cited within the print is based off of other published prints. This print only gives the broad idea and main concept about eating disorders, it does not go into great detail so it was not very useful as a research source. This source is intended for those who is learning about eating disorders for the first time. It also includes a variety of graphs and charts to display different statistics which is designed to be productive and visually entertaining. Lorraine does cover the topic well as it allows the reader to easily find a variety of information on eating disorders that gives very clear and concise explanations with scientific
...orted self-image, low self-esteem, and a need for control. "Eating disorders are not about food or weight but about a disordered 'sense of self' looking for approval and finding it, however
Eating disorders are characterized by gross disturbances in eating behavior and include anorexia nervosa, bulimia nervosa, eating disorders not otherwise specified(NOS), and binge eating disorder. Also, several researchers have coined the term anorexia athletics.
Eating disorders are quite serious and can often lead to extreme disruption of normal eating behaviors. It wasn’t considered an illness till 1980, when a singer named Karen Carpenter died from complications due to anorexia. If left untreated a person can put significant stress on their body; causing the body to begin to shut down. Often the organs will begin to fail, the persons hair will start to fall out and the person whom you once knew will become completely unrecognizable. Researchers have found many reasons that can be the cause of eating disorders. If we consider Demi Lovato a once happy go lucky Disney star who started acting different from her usual self. We can see that she was struggling from some kind of internal complex. When
Eating disorders can be altered by many things including bullying. One way that an eating disorder can come about into someone's life if is low self-esteem. Negative body images can make someone want to become skinnier. When someone has a low self-esteem it means a person who has a very low image of themselves. They think that they are nothing and aren’t worthy of life. When someone thinks this they could exercise excessively thinking that it will make them skinnier.
An eating disorder is defined as illness of irregular eating habits and severe distress or concern about body weight or body shape. It is often characterized by inadequate or excessive food intake, which can also lead to permanent damage to one’s health and well-being. Eating disorders can occur in both males and females, it generally starts during one’s teenage years, but can occur at any stage during life. There are three different types of eating disorders that are typically the most common and most talked about eating disorders and they are anorexia nervosa, bulimia nervosa, and binge eating disorder (Ekern). All of these eating disorders ordinarily coexist with other types of psychological conditions such as anxiety disorders, substance abuse, and depression.
Anorexia Nervosa is an eating disorder that individuals restrict their caloric intake and increase exercise, causing their bodies to become malnourished and weak. They begin to take part is crash diets, and exercise constantly. Some people with an eating disorder will refuse to eat in front of others so that they do not realize they have an eating problem. The other is Bulimia Nervosa, where the person binge eats a substantial amount of food and then purges. The term nervosa, is fear of becoming overweight.
When things seem out of control in one’s life, they may find the control that they seek through extreme dieting. Some factors that contribute to eating disorders can be quite personal. Having a difficult and troubled past is not uncommon in eating disorder sufferers. History of being bullied and abuse is also not uncommon (NEDA, Factors That May Contribute to Eating Disorders).
What exactly is an eating disorder one may ask themselves? An eating disorder is an illness that disrupts your daily decision making on food choices by one of the following :
There are many plausible factors that can lead to the development of anorexia nervosa. There is some indication that supports the idea that some people are more genetically predisposed to developing eating disorders such as anorexia. Many signs that show that if there is a biological connection to someone suffering from anorexia, then others in the family are more than 10 times likely to develop the disorder. Some studies have even shown the heritably of eating disorders, including anorexia, to be over 50% (ADD CITATION). Another biological factor could be the cause of this disease is the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis (HPA). The HPA is responsible for releasing certain neurotransmitters including serotonin, norepinephrine, and dopamine,
Eating disorders are a serious health problem. Personal Counseling & Resources says that eating disorders "are characterized by a focus on body shape, weight, fat, food, and perfectionism and by feelings of powerlessness and low self-esteem." Three of the most common eating disorders are anorexia nervosa, bulimia nervosa, and binge eating or compulsive eating disorder. According to Anorexia Nervosa and Related Eating Disorders, a person with anorexia "refuses to maintain normal body weight for age and height" and "weighs 85 percent or less than what is what is expected for age and height." A person diagnosed with bulimia has several ways of getting rid of the calories such as binge eating, vomiting, laxative misuse, exercising, or fasting. The person might have a normal weight for their age and height unless anorexia is present. The signs of a compulsive eater include eating meals frequently, rapidly, and secretly. This person might also snack and nibble all day long. The compulsive eater tends to have a history of diet failures and may be depressed or obese (Anred.com).
There is an armory full of issues when it comes to eating. There are three main disorders, Anorexia Nervosa, Bulimia Nervosa, and Binge-eating disorder. Anorexia happens when the victim becomes obsessive about their self-image and weight. Constant weighing and exercise occurs as well as eating in small
Eating disorders can very well change a person's life and affect people around him or her. People engaged in these eating disorders are mostly referred to as victims, because of horrible and dangerous effects of these diseases. Eating disorders are very serious; sometimes life threatening illnesses can occur. There are three different common eating disorders: bulimia, anorexia nervosa, and binge eating. There are also two that are not as common disorders recognized by most of the people today; they are anorexia, pica, and bulimia in combination. One must first know how to recognize the disorders in order to help one's self or others battle. Eating disorders are very common and people should know what they are, what causes them, how to detect them, and most importantly how to help prevent it or stop it. Anorexia nervosa is one of the types of eating disorders in which a person starves them self in order to gain and maintain their idea of "perfection". This condition happens when a person is constantly dieting to the extreme because of a mental image they have of their body that is incorrect. It usually strikes women around the time when they start going through puberty and has also been known to happen in the late teens and the early twenties. This state of starvation leads to a loss of 150 below normal body weight. Of the 7 million women between the ages 15 to 35 who have anorexia, 65 percent will surely die due to the complications of this disorder (Wellness Web 2).
Eating disorders cause an extreme amount of damage to a person’s health, self-esteem and, physical appearance. Eating disorders are thoughts, emotions, and behaviors surrounding weight, food, body image, and body shape. An eating disorder starts out as eating less and skipping meals during the day. It will eventually lead to not eating any meals for several days in a row or binge eating and then removing the food from the body by purging. Eating disorders are developed or influenced by multiple reasons. They are now being developed at a younger age than they used to. Eating disorders are occurring in the majority of teenagers all throughout the world. Teenagers are resorting in eating disorders to change the size and shape of their body. They do this to become what they think is considered a normal body shape and size. Eating disorders have become an epidemic that has spread almost everywhere in the world. Teenage eating disorders are becoming a dangerous problem in the world and more common each and every day.