Teen eating disorders are still on the rise,and it is beconing more difficult to tell whether a child may have an eating disorder, currently in excess of nine million Americans suffer from some sort of eating disorder, bizarrly over ninety percent of those who suffer are female, and of that ninety percent half of the newly diagnosed cases are girls in their teens, the number of males with eating disorders is increasingly, these numbers are difficult to determine exactly, mainly due to the condition not being reported or wrong diagnoses when the condition is reported.
The problem with all eating disorders is that they are as the name would suggest a disorder, they are not an infection or disease, like the common cold or flu where the diagnoses and treatment is often obvious and clear cut, more often than not the difficulty with an eating disorder is that the disorder itself is a symptom of a more deep seated problem or issue, which is usually psychological, which of course makes it difficult to tell whether a child may have an eating disorder.
At last Doctors are beginning to properly comprehend the issues behind many eating disorders,modern treatments are more sympathetic toward the underling causes of the condition, and many experts have entered the field and are further helping the medical community to better understand and thereby treat eating disorders.
What constitutes an Eating Disorder ?
The name is slightly confusing someone can have an eating disorder and yet appear to have a healthy normal appetite, the term also includes teens who might abuse one or a number of diet related drugs such as laxatives, diuretics, over the counter diet pills, other drugs that induce vomiting, and slightly more seriously cocaine and other stimulant narcotics that have a hunger suppresing side effect. Another form of eating disorder comes in the form of a teen who may be involved in excessive sport or otherwise exercise almost obsessively in an attempt to lose weight.
Eating disorders can have a will have a very dangerous effect on your body and mind. If you do have an eating disorder, the odds are that you are afraid of getting fat, so you avoid eating or eat excessively until you are sick or induce sickness artificially. The is much the same in most weight loss. To start the weight loss may be hardly noticeable or look unhealthy. However within a short time frame, the weight loss becomes dramatic and bring a host of related complications.
Eating disorders that actually relate directly to what you eat or drink will affect body functions. As the disorder progresses, your digestion will slow causing constipation, this is an instinctive survival mechanism for the human body. As you lose more and more weight you will find you feel cold constantly not only because you will have lost much of the protective body fat layer, but also as you progress your system will have less fat to burn and convert to fuel for the body. At this stage you will also start to feel constantly weak and tired, your system will start to break down muscle tissue and healthy organs as fuel with devastating consequences.
Symptoms of an Eating Disorder:
Sufferers may severly restrict the amount of food they eat, and be obsessed with the amout of calories in what they do eat or drink. usually anorexia nervosa.
They may eat less often than would be considered normal, sometimes missing complete days. anorexia nervosa.
Eat a lot of food at once (called bingeing) and then get rid of the food by vomiting, this would normally be termed bulima nervosa.
Take laxatives or diuretics (such as drugs that reduce fluids), or using enemas (called purging) regularly. bulimia nervosa.
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Fast regularly or exercise excessively.
Female Athlete Triad
Being a competitive athlete, and engaged in a sport that requires a certain weight to be maintained, exercising more than is actually required by your sport, perhaps have no time for friends outside of the sport of choice as the exercise and sport takes all of your spare time.This is often a more difficult to diagnose form of eating disorder called Female Athlete Triad.
Many who suffer from bulimia nervosa are usually preoccupied with the fear of gaining weight. People with anorexia usually refuse to eat, whereas people with bulimia usually binge eat but then purge. Anorexics also usually deny to themselves and to others that there is a problem. Bulimics are often aware that there is a problem, but they may try to keep it a secret from others.
Who can get an Eating Disorder:
In short anyone male or female, young or old, and from all walks of life. However, eating disorders are far more common in teens than in adults. And is seldom found past twenty. It is also more common among females than males. Perhaps this is because society puts much more pressure on women to be thin than on men, or that young women may be more sensitive to this pressure.
Young females who suffer low self-esteem or some form of depression seem particularly vunrable to forming an eating disorder, as are these that are regular high achievers. these groups may use anorexia as means to better control over their lives. If they feel that their parents, teachers or others are taking excess control and making more and more decisions for them, they will often start to restrict the amount of food that they eat to gain control at least over that aspect of their life.
For a full list of symptoms and tell tale signs that will help in the early detection of the disease and what you absolutely must do if you suppect your child may be /#/teenage-eating-disordres/4538795909" " suffering from an eating disorder
