Anorexia nervosa
Anorexia nervosa is a psychiatric condition in which one is constantly preoccupied with their weight and body image, excessive fear of obesity, diet, calorie counting and restriction, and exercise, in spite of being underweight, leading to dangerously low body weight.
- Most commonly affects teenage girls.
- Divided into two types:
- Restricting type. Constant calorie restriction with little to no episodes of binge-eating.
- Binge-eating/purging type. Recurrent episodes of binge eating, followed by self-indueced emesis or diarrhea.
- Patients may become undernourished, and lose substanitial amount of weight, leading to deficiencies and hormone dysbalance (amenorrhea and infertility), sarcopnea, and electrolyte imbalances.
- The diagnosis is clinical.
- Treatment is through cognitive-behavioral therapy, supplements, and