Eating Disorders include a range of conditions that involve an obsession with food, weight and appearance to the degree that a person's heath, relationships and daily activities are adversely affected. Although eating disorders most commonly affect young women, eating disorders can impact people of all ages and sexes. .
Two serious eating disorders that occur most frequently are anorexia nervosa and bulimia. Anorexia nervosa is the relentless pursuit of thinness by a person. A person suffering from anorexia nervosa refuses to maintain normal body weight for age and height. One medical symptom of anorexia nervosa is that the person weighs 85% or less than what is expected for age and height. .
A second medical symptom is that in women, menstrual periods stop. When a young girl is suffering from anorexia nervosa they do not begin to menstruate at the appropriate age. When a man suffers from anorexia nervosa, his levels of sex hormones fall. In addition, medical symptoms of anorexia nervosa includes depression, irritability, withdrawal, and peculiar behaviors such as compulsive rituals, strange eating habits, and division of foods into "good/safe" and "bad/dangerous" categories.
The causes of anorexia nervosa are varied. In an attempt to understand the origins of eating disorders, scientists have studied the personalities, genetics, environments, and biochemistry of people with these illnesses. Certain personality traits common in persons with anorexia nervosa are low self-esteem, social isolation (which usually occurs after the behavior associated with anorexia nervosa begins), and perfectionism. Eating disorders also tend to run in families, with female relatives most often affected. People with anorexia nervosa also tend to have higher than normal levels of cortisol (a brain hormone released in response to stress) and vasopressin (a brain chemical found to be abnormal in patients with obsessive-compulsive disorder).
