Diseases and Disorders

In our society, there are many different types of diseases and disorders that plague us. The origins for these diseases and disorders are all different. Some are merely physical diseases while there are others that may only affect the mind. Some are genetic; some are a physical response to the body’s exposure to outside elements. Anorexia Nervosa, however, is a disorder that is both physical and mental in nature. This disorder is not genetically based; however, it is something that affects both a person’s physical health and their mental well being.

What is anorexia nervosa? It is a condition that is more than just someone’s concern with gaining weight or excessive dieting. A person with anorexia often initially begins dieting to lose weight. Eventually, the dieting turns into a need for control. The desire to be thinner is no longer the main concern, where as it turns into a need to have complete control over fears that are in relation to the body. It turns into a downward spiral of restrictive eating, often accompanied by other behaviors. These behaviors include but are not limited to excessive exercising, abuse of diet pills which helps suppress hunger, and the use of diuretics or laxatives to help manipulate body weight. This will usually lead to a point close to starvation in order to feel a sense of control over his or her body. It becomes an obsession and, in this way, is similar to an addiction (“Anorexia nervosa,” 2009).

Anorexia nervosa most often affects teenagers and is definitely found more amongst teenage girls than boys. Recently, new studies have shown that the initial age of onset has changed from 13 to 17 years to 9 to 12 years, certainly showing a reflection in the changes in today’s society. While it can affect men and women of any age, race and socioeconomic and cultural background, anorexia nervosa occurs in ten times as many females as males (“Anorexia nervosa,” 2013). Statistically, 85 to 95 percent of anorexics are...