Background/History
Anorexia dates back to about seven hundred years ago, but it was first described in England in the 1800’s. The name Anorexia comes from two Greek words meaning a lack of desire to eat. Professor Ernets Lasegue of the University of Paris identified it as an illness just over 100 years ago. However, Sir William Gull was the first to document and treat anorexia. Sir Gull also gave Anorexia its current name.
Anorexia nervosa overview Anorexia Nervo´sa is an eating disorder usually occurring in adolescent females, characterized by refusal to maintain a normal minimal body weight, fear of gaining weight or becoming obese, disturbance of body image, undue reliance on body weight or shape for self-evaluation, and amenorrhea (Dorland’s Medical Dictionary). People who have anorexia have an extreme fear to gaining weight. They severely limit the amount of food they eat and become a dangerously thin. Therefore, Anorexia affects both the body and mind. Though, it may start as an issue of dieting, it gets out of control. People who have anorexia always think about food, dieting, and weight. As a result, they will have a distorted body shape. Though some people tell them they are too thin, in their mind they think they are a fat person. Most of the time, it starts at the age of ten and it's much more common in females than males. Early treatment can be very effective; however, if not treated early, it can become a lifelong problem. Untreated anorexia can lead to starvation and serious health problems, such as bone thinning (osteoppepsis), kidney damage, and heart problems, and in the worst case it causes death. According to studies eating disorders have the highest mortality rate of any mental illness. The mortality rate associated with anorexia nervosa is 12 times higher than the death rate of all cases of death for
