Anorexia nervosa, a medical condition defined by an...

Anorexia nervosa, a medical condition defined by an abnormal or pronounced lack of appetite, has become a household recognized condition due to its prevalence and impact. Anorexia nervosa is a major eating disorder that disrupts everyday life, resulting in extreme thinness, hormonal imbalances, behavioral signs, and health issues that can lead to death. While the disease strikes across all gender, races, and classes, the victims affected are typically young, healthy, and attractive women of successful families. The average girl affected usually ages between thirteen and nineteen years old (Landau 3). This disorder has increased rapidly over the last ten years, becoming more common each year (Landau 2-3). Women faced with both a biological†¦show more content†¦As the anorectic victim continues to get worse and not eat, the disease becomes much more serious with more prominent health risks arising, and such long-term risks of heart problems, osteoporosis, amenorrhea, and deat h. Furthermore, anorexia nervosa has many internal health issues. One of the largest treatment hospitals in the UK, Maudsley Hospital shares how people with anorexia have variations in genes for serotonin receptors, which determines appetite(South London and Maudsley). Serotonin is described to be involved in everyday behaviors of sleep, hunger, response, behavior, depression, and anxiety (Website on Eating Disorder). High levels of serotonin and loss of appetite are linked with constant stress and anxiety. If too much serotonin is being distributed to the body, this will have a large effect on how much the person eats and feels hungry. Therefore, this misdistribution in serotonin leads to eating disorders because the body is not correctly balanced. Many scientists and doctors have studied the correlation between depression and eating disorders. When physicians test and examine young teenagers who are believed to be anorexic, amenorrhea is the most common symptom. Amenorrhea is the lack of a menstrual cycle and occurs because the body is not at the ideal body weight for the given height and age (Gross and Gidwani 41). The combination of the drastic weight loss and weakening of theShow MoreRelatedEssay on Understanding Clinical Depression3085 Words   |  13 Pagessyndromes, somatisation and clinical depressions. The general idea is that anxiety disorders, depressive episodes, somatisation and adjustment reactions are all different entities, but in practice it is not always that clear-cut. Major depression, as defined by psychiatrists, is unfortunately relatively common. What is depression? The term quot;affectquot; refers to ones mood or quot;spirits.quot; quot;Affective disorderquot; refers to changes in mood that occur during an episode of illness