subject: Health Complications with Anorexic People: How to Read the Signs [print this page] Health Complications with Anorexic People: How to Read the Signs
A considerable percentage of the population, mostly female, suffer from an eating disorder known as anorexia. Anorexia can result to severe weight loss that could progress to catastrophic proportions so much so that anorexic people can suffer from a number of medical complications that prove to be life-threatening.
Recognizing the signs and symptoms of someone suffering from this eating disorder may be difficult since they are very good at hiding their eating habits - or lack thereof - and they are very adept at pretending everything's okay.
Loved ones may only start to notice the symptoms in the later stages of the disorder.
Signs and Symptoms
To help us recognize someone who may already be suffering from anorexia, the following are the general signs and symptoms that we can watch out for:
. Hardly ever eating; usually just toying with their food during mealtimes
. Doesn't want to eat in public
. Obsession with food
. Taking diet pills and/or laxatives everyday
. Obsession with weight and weight gain, often saying that they are too fat when in fact, they are already dangerously thin
. Wearing loose-fitting clothes to hide their thin figures
. Continuous weight loss to extreme proportions
. Depression and mood swings
. Refusal to join social functions
. Vomiting after every meal
. Obsession with extreme exercise regimens
If we know someone, a family member or a friend, who are displaying some or all of these behavioral patterns, they may already be suffering from anorexia.
Health Complications
Anorexic people do not initially recognize the dangers of their eating behavior hence; they may already be suffering from a number of health problems that need to be addressed immediately to avoid further increasing their risk of developing severe medical conditions that could prematurely take away their lives.
Health complications from anorexia could be several of the following, depending on the severity of the eating disorder:
. Dehydration
. Fainting and/or dizziness
. Fatigue
. Frailty
. Low blood pressure
. Slow heartbeat
. Irregular heart rhythm
. Higher possibility of heart failure
. Constipation
. Ulcers
. Bloating
. Stomach cramps
. Possibility of kidney failure
. Brittle bones
. Skin problems
All these factors could ultimately lead to the untimely death of anorexic people; hence, getting them immediate professional help is of utmost importance.
Helping People with Anorexia
Once we have recognized that someone close to us may already be suffering from anorexia, the best thing that we can do is to reach out to our loved one, without pre-judgments or prejudices, just to make them feel that we are there to offer our love and support.
The last thing that people with anorexia would need is for us to constantly nag them about their condition. This could result in pushing them further down their eating disorder.
There are professional medical and psychological doctors that we can go to, to guide us on how to help a loved one suffering from anorexia. Interventions in severe cases may be needed, and again, an experienced and professional doctor can help us with this.
What we need to understand is that people suffering from anorexia may have been led to this kind of eating behavior and poor self-image because traumatic incidents that have caused them to lose their self-esteem.
This is why approaching them with as much love, compassion, care, patience and understanding is important in order to help get them out of their life-threatening behavior.
