Anorexia nervosa takes a toll on the body. But that's not all. It has the highest mortality rate among mental illnesses. Between 5% and 20% of people who develop this disease eventually die. The longer it lasts, the more likely you are to die from it. Even for those who survive, this disorder can damage nearly every body system.
What exactly happens? Let's take a look at the effects that anorexia has on the human body.
The first victims of anorexia are often bones. The disease usually begins in adolescence. It is thought that this is the exact time when young people lose the amount of bone needed to sustain life into adulthood.
„You have a very limited amount of time to build up enough bone mass to last a lifetime,“ says Diane Mikley, M.D., co-president of the American association. eating disorder Founder and Director of the Institute and Wilkins Center eating disorder in Greenwich, Connecticut. „We're supposed to be pouring in bones, but instead we're losing bones.“ bone loss It can develop as early as six months after anorexia begins and is one of the most irreversible complications of the disease.
However, the most life-threatening damage is usually the catastrophe caused to the human body. heart. As the body's muscle mass decreases, the heart muscle also preferentially decreases, making the heart smaller and weaker. “Blood circulation increases in response to exercise, which worsens when pulse and heart rate increase. blood pressure „The strain on the heart is acute and significant, and develops quickly.“ The heart damage that ultimately killed singer Karen Carpenter is the most common reason for hospitalization for most anorexia patients.
Although the heart and bones often bear the brunt of the damage, anorexia is a multisystem disease. Virtually no part of the body is immune to its effects. About half of people with anorexia have low white blood cell counts, and about one-third are anemic. Both conditions can reduce the immune system's resistance to disease and make you more susceptible to infections.
These medical effects begin even before a person with anorexia begins to look „too thin.“
Many young women who begin a strict diet stop menstruating long before serious weight loss begins. Because many of those with anorexia are teenage girls and young women, this can have long-term effects on their ability to have children.
„In fully recovered anorexics and bulimics, pregnancy rate, frequency, and number of pregnancies appear to be normal,“ Mickley says. “But when you look at infertility clinics and the patients in those clinics who don't get their period or who don't get their period, the vast majority of them appear to have an underlying medical condition. eating disorder. They may think they've made a full recovery, but they haven't gained enough weight yet. ”
Many women with anorexia would rather: infertility treatment Mikley says that's even better than treating an eating disorder. Additionally, even among women who have fully recovered from anorexia or bulimia, rates of miscarriage and caesarean section may be slightly higher. „They may have up to 30% higher rates of postpartum depression than other women,“ she says.
Bulimia is often closely related to anorexia and poses unique health risks.purge bulimics vomiting Chronic exposure to stomach acid can seriously damage the digestive tract and cause digestive disorders such as reflux. esophagitis.
„I feel like I'm on Draino,“ said one woman who posted on a digestive health forum about the lifelong effects of anorexia and bulimia. Some reported cases suggest that bulimia may have caused the following symptoms: barrett esophagusmay lead to esophageal cancer.
Good news. Many of these complications can be reversed once you return to your normal weight. „If we want to reverse outcomes, we have to really focus on weight restoration, which is the most important part of treatment,“ said Rebecca Peebles, M.D., an adolescent medicine specialist at Lucile Packard Children's Hospital in Palo Alto, California. ” he says. You can't keep waiting for that to happen. This is an essential first step in treatment and recovery. ”
Unfortunately, too many people believe that anorexia is strictly a mental illness and ignore its complications unless the patient is visibly and dangerously thin, experts say. That's what it means. „Many people, parents, and even some doctors believe that complications from anorexia only occur if you become debilitatingly thin,“ Peebles says. “Practitioners need to understand that a good therapist is only part of the treatment for anorexia and other eating disorders, and that these patients also need medical care.”
Research shows that many people who need treatment for anorexia do not receive it. This is likely primarily due to cost. Inpatient treatment can cost more than $30,000 per month, and outpatient treatment can cost as much as $100,000 per year.
Melissa Roman, a Miami woman who has been recovering from anorexia for several years, pays $800 a month out of pocket for therapy sessions. insurance Doesn't cover. According to the National Eating Disorders Coalition, health insurance companies pay for an average of 10 to 15 treatments for people with eating disorders, but true recovery can require more long-term care (up to 40 treatments). There is a possibility that it will happen.
“Access to care is a big issue,” Mikley said. “Eating disorders are not staged that way. cancer So we have no way to persuade insurance Companies believe that low potassium levels can cause something like small metastases. It's only recently that we've begun to understand the genetic and neurochemical basis of anorexia and say that this is a real disease, not the whim of a spoiled rich girl. It has been treated as if it were voluntary and intentional, as opposed to the actual illness, which is a serious, life-threatening psychiatric illness, a medical illness. ”