How does anorexia come about
Release time : 01/18/2025 18:13:27
Anorexia nervosa is a mental disorder characterized by extreme dieting and refusal to eat, leading to weight loss and malnutrition. The patient may also refuse to maintain a minimum body weight due to fear of being overweight or feeling depressed.
Approximately 95% are female, and tendencies similar to those of a person with anorexia nervosa often emerge during adolescence. Therefore, understanding anorexia is essential.
Anorexia nervosa is a condition that can be challenging to treat, resulting in approximately 10%-20% of patients eventually dying prematurely.
Generally speaking, the main factors leading to anorexia nervosa are as follows.
First of all, social factors.
This factor leads to patients often having an overly obsessive desire for slimness, particularly in successful women who are meticulous and self-disciplined.
They are very concerned about gaining weight because of their concern for their figure and their expectations, so they eat very little or nothing at all, or try to throw up what they've eaten.
Secondly, the climatic environment.
One's abode nourishes one's being; the high temperatures and humidity can affect gastrointestinal function, leading to reduced secretion of digestive juices, decreased activity of digestive enzymes, and diminished acid production. Consequently, this may result in anorexia.
Moreover, family factors also have a certain impact.
If parents overly strict with their children and pursue perfection excessively.
The child shows excessive dependence on their parents.
Such children may develop an aversion to their parents' actions, leading to resentment and refusal of food under coercive feeding.
Finally, physical factors.
Anorexia nervosa is associated with endocrine disorders, such as decreased estrogen and thyroid hormone secretion, elevated cortisol levels.
Moreover, chronic and acute diseases can also lead to reduced gastrointestinal motility, resulting in anorexia.
Nearly all antibiotics, when used for an extended period, can lead to dysbiosis and imbalance of the gut microbiota, resulting in symptoms such as abdominal bloating, nausea, and loss of appetite.
Anorexia nervosa is characterized by a significant lack of interest in food, a complete lack of appetite, and an unwillingness to eat.
Other symptoms will also manifest.
First, diet performance.
Although some people with anorexia feel a good appetite, they feel that their stomachs are full and uncomfortable after a few bites and stop eating, or they don't want to eat when they see food. For example, forced eating often induces nausea and vomiting.
There are also some patients who induce them to vomit quickly.
Secondly, psychological performance: Most people with anorexia pay too much attention to diet and worry about getting fat. Under the influence of psychological factors, they actively refuse to eat or go too far on a diet, resulting in weight loss and malnutrition.
In addition, patients often feel hungry, but force themselves not to eat.
They are good at studying the nutrition and calories of food, and hide or deliberately waste food.
Finally, physiological manifestations.
Many anorexia nervosa patients have a significant weight loss, edema, lack of body fat, easy to be cold, fear of cold, abnormal levels of hormones in the body, causing hair thin or excessive body hair.
Concurrently, there is a decline in cardiac function, with bradycardia, hypotension, and heart arrhythmias, which can lead to sudden death or make fainting more likely.
For women, anorexics often experience a decrease or cessation of menstrual flow. Both men and women may also suffer from a lack of sexual desire.
Anorexia nervosa can cause various problems in the long term when it is not adequately nourished by normal nutrition.
Firstly, health risks. Excessive dieting over a long period of time can easily lead to malnutrition and affect physiological changes.
At the same time, patients with anorexia nervosa who have been abnormally eating for a long time may feel cold in both physiological and psychological aspects.
Secondly, patients with anorexia often suffer from various infectious diseases under the physical state of nutritional deficiency, growth disorders, and reduced resistance.
At the same time, people with anorexia can also have other neurotic symptoms, such as fullness and discomfort, unexplained fatigue, lack of interest in sexual desire, and insomnia.
In addition, many people with anorexia suffer from bulimia. After overeating, they induce vomiting, take diet pills, laxatives, etc., resulting in water and electrolyte disorders and acid-base balance imbalance.
Finally, his character changed greatly.
Patients with anorexia are often accompanied by personality changes, and are prone to personality changes such as depression, anxiety, and moody. During treatment, they will force or repeatedly do something, often lie, and conceal their eating habits, which hinders the improvement of their condition and even recovery.
At the same time, in daily life, anorexia nervosa patients have rough and cracked skin, some of whom have slow heartbeats, physical weakness, dehydration, and pale complexion.
The treatment for anorexia nervosa is the common aspiration of every patient's family, hoping that the patient can get rid of the disease and recover health and normal life.
First, surgical treatment.
The focus is primarily on patients with refractory psychiatric conditions, commonly referred to as those who have not responded well to pharmacological, electroconvulsive therapy (ECT), and psychotherapy methods.
Or the side effects of medication are too severe to bear.
Another issue is the patient's poor adherence to medication, refusing to take it, and ensuring that the treatment is systematic.
Secondly, Western medicine treatment.
In order to correct the balance of water and electrolytes, potassium, sodium, and chloride are often supplemented orally and intravenously, and monitored.
During the period of promoting the patient's recovery from eating, digestive aids or acupuncture can be combined, or a small amount of insulin can be used to promote the recovery of appetite and digestive function.
Again, mental treatment.
Etiology believes that the disease may be related to depression, and antidepressants are used to treat it.
Diazepam drugs are also commonly used to regulate patients 'anxiety.
These two types of drugs have a certain effect on improving patients 'depression focus emotions.
Finally, behavior modification.
The main purpose is to promote the patient's weight recovery. It can be used to limit the patient's range and amount of activity. As the weight increases, freedom of activity is gradually given in a rewarding manner. This method is generally used in hospitals when the patient's weight is extremely low.
Can anorexia be treated with traditional Chinese medicine? Traditional Chinese medicine also has some research on anorexia. Many patient families choose traditional Chinese medicine treatment out of their trust in traditional Chinese medicine.
In traditional Chinese medicine, patients with anorexia are classified as food stagnation type with long-term irregular diet, resulting in tasteless food.
Due to spleen inability to function properly, dampness accumulates within the body, resulting in symptoms such as chest tightness and vomiting.
Excessive consumption of spicy and blazing foods leads to damage in the yin, causing dryness in the mouth and throat, intense thirst, emaciation, restlessness, and a spleen and stomach type of yin deficiency.
For these three types of patients, Traditional Chinese Medicine has provided corresponding therapeutic approaches.
The first method should employ the method of eliminating food and promoting digestion.
The second method should be adopted to invigorate the spleen and dry dampness.
The third method should adopt nourishing yin and nourishing the stomach.
In addition, traditional Chinese medicine also has specific methods such as massage therapy, psychotherapy, and behavioral therapy.
You need to make choices based on actual conditions.
* The medical part covered in this article is for reading and reference only.
If you feel unwell, it is recommended to seek medical attention immediately, and the medical diagnosis and treatment will be subject to offline diagnosis.