Find information on thousands of medical conditions and prescription drugs.

Anorexia nervosa

Anorexia nervosa is an eating disorder characterized by voluntary starvation and exercise stress. Anorexia nervosa is a complex disease, involving psychological, sociological and physiological components. A person who is suffering from anorexia is referred to as 'anorexic' or (less commonly) 'anorectic'. "Anorectic" is the noun form, where "anorexic" is the adjectival form. These two are often used incorrectly when applied. Although technically incorrect, the term is frequently shortened to anorexia, which simply refers to the medical symptom of lost appetite. more...

Home
Diseases
A
Aagenaes syndrome
Aarskog Ose Pande syndrome
Aarskog syndrome
Aase Smith syndrome
Aase syndrome
ABCD syndrome
Abdallat Davis Farrage...
Abdominal aortic aneurysm
Abdominal cystic...
Abdominal defects
Ablutophobia
Absence of Gluteal muscle
Acalvaria
Acanthocheilonemiasis
Acanthocytosis
Acarophobia
Acatalasemia
Accessory pancreas
Achalasia
Achard syndrome
Achard-Thiers syndrome
Acheiropodia
Achondrogenesis
Achondrogenesis type 1A
Achondrogenesis type 1B
Achondroplasia
Achondroplastic dwarfism
Achromatopsia
Acid maltase deficiency
Ackerman syndrome
Acne
Acne rosacea
Acoustic neuroma
Acquired ichthyosis
Acquired syphilis
Acrofacial dysostosis,...
Acromegaly
Acrophobia
Acrospiroma
Actinomycosis
Activated protein C...
Acute febrile...
Acute intermittent porphyria
Acute lymphoblastic leukemia
Acute lymphocytic leukemia
Acute mountain sickness
Acute myelocytic leukemia
Acute myelogenous leukemia
Acute necrotizing...
Acute promyelocytic leukemia
Acute renal failure
Acute respiratory...
Acute tubular necrosis
Adams Nance syndrome
Adams-Oliver syndrome
Addison's disease
Adducted thumb syndrome...
Adenoid cystic carcinoma
Adenoma
Adenomyosis
Adenosine deaminase...
Adenosine monophosphate...
Adie syndrome
Adrenal incidentaloma
Adrenal insufficiency
Adrenocortical carcinoma
Adrenogenital syndrome
Adrenoleukodystrophy
Aerophobia
Agoraphobia
Agrizoophobia
Agyrophobia
Aicardi syndrome
Aichmophobia
AIDS
AIDS Dementia Complex
Ainhum
Albinism
Albright's hereditary...
Albuminurophobia
Alcaptonuria
Alcohol fetopathy
Alcoholic hepatitis
Alcoholic liver cirrhosis
Alektorophobia
Alexander disease
Alien hand syndrome
Alkaptonuria
Alliumphobia
Alopecia
Alopecia areata
Alopecia totalis
Alopecia universalis
Alpers disease
Alpha 1-antitrypsin...
Alpha-mannosidosis
Alport syndrome
Alternating hemiplegia
Alzheimer's disease
Amaurosis
Amblyopia
Ambras syndrome
Amelogenesis imperfecta
Amenorrhea
American trypanosomiasis
Amoebiasis
Amyloidosis
Amyotrophic lateral...
Anaphylaxis
Androgen insensitivity...
Anemia
Anemia, Diamond-Blackfan
Anemia, Pernicious
Anemia, Sideroblastic
Anemophobia
Anencephaly
Aneurysm
Aneurysm
Aneurysm of sinus of...
Angelman syndrome
Anguillulosis
Aniridia
Anisakiasis
Ankylosing spondylitis
Ankylostomiasis
Annular pancreas
Anorchidism
Anorexia nervosa
Anosmia
Anotia
Anthophobia
Anthrax disease
Antiphospholipid syndrome
Antisocial personality...
Antithrombin deficiency,...
Anton's syndrome
Aortic aneurysm
Aortic coarctation
Aortic dissection
Aortic valve stenosis
Apert syndrome
Aphthous stomatitis
Apiphobia
Aplastic anemia
Appendicitis
Apraxia
Arachnoiditis
Argininosuccinate...
Argininosuccinic aciduria
Argyria
Arnold-Chiari malformation
Arrhythmogenic right...
Arteriovenous malformation
Arteritis
Arthritis
Arthritis, Juvenile
Arthrogryposis
Arthrogryposis multiplex...
Asbestosis
Ascariasis
Aseptic meningitis
Asherman's syndrome
Aspartylglycosaminuria
Aspergillosis
Asphyxia neonatorum
Asthenia
Asthenia
Asthenophobia
Asthma
Astrocytoma
Ataxia telangiectasia
Atelectasis
Atelosteogenesis, type II
Atherosclerosis
Athetosis
Atopic Dermatitis
Atrial septal defect
Atrioventricular septal...
Atrophy
Attention Deficit...
Autoimmune hepatitis
Autoimmune...
Automysophobia
Autonomic dysfunction
Familial Alzheimer disease
Senescence
B
C
D
E
F
G
H
I
J
K
L
M
N
O
P
Q
R
S
T
U
V
W
X
Y
Z
Medicines

In this article, for the purpose of brevity, anorexia will be used in the place of anorexia nervosa.

Anorectic can also refer to appetite-suppressing drugs.

Sometimes the condition is called variously Cibophobia, Sitophobia, Sitophobia, translated as "aversion to food".

Characteristics

The causes of anorexia are a matter of debate in medical circles and society in general. General perspectives fit between the poles of it being physiological or psychological (with the potential for sociological and cultural influences being a cause to various degrees) in origin. Some now take the opinion that it is a mix of both, in that it is a psychological condition which is often (though not inherently) borne of certain conducive neurophysiologic conditions.

Clinical definition

The four DSM IV criteria

The following is the definition of anorexia nervosa from the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, used to assist doctors in making a clinical diagnosis. This definition may not be representative of what an individual sufferer feels or experiences in living with the illness. Additionally, it is important to note that an individual may still suffer from a health- or life-threatening eating disorder (e.g., subclinical anorexia nervosa or ED-NOS: eating disorder, not otherwise specified) even if one of the below signs is not present. In particular, a substantial number of patients diagnosed with ED-NOS meet all criteria for diagnosis of anorexia nervosa except the requirement of three consecutive missed menstrual cycles.

  1. Refusal to maintain body weight at or above a minimally normal weight for age and height (e.g., weight loss leading to maintenance of body weight less than 85% of that expected; or failure to make expected weight gain during period of growth, leading to body weight less than 85% of that expected).
  2. Intense fear of gaining weight or becoming fat, even though underweight.
  3. Disturbance in the way in which one's body weight or shape is experienced, undue influence of body weight or shape on self-evaluation, or denial of the seriousness of the current low body weight.
  4. In postmenarcheal females (women who have not yet gone through menopause), amenorrhea (the absence of at least three consecutive menstrual cycles).

The two DSM IV Subtypes

  • Restricting Type: during the current episode of anorexia nervosa, the person has not regularly engaged in binge-eating or purging behavior (i.e., self-induced vomiting or the misuse of laxatives, diuretics, or enemas)
  • Binge-Eating Type or Purging Type: during the current episode of anorexia nervosa, the person has regularly engaged in binge-eating OR purging behavior (i.e., self-induced vomiting or the misuse of laxatives, diuretics, or enemas).

Read more at Wikipedia.org


[List your site here Free!]


Energy expenditure in anorexia nervosa
From Nutrition Research Newsletter, 1/1/05

A major goal in treating anorexic patients is correcting malnutrition by means of refeeding. In women with anorexia nervosa (AN), however, great differences between predicted and measured values of resting energy expenditure (REE) have been found. Little is known about the changes that occur during refeeding, but it is possible that these changes contribute to the difficulty of weight gain among AN patients.

An increase in physical activity with refeeding is expected in AN patients, who are known to engage in physical hyperactivity so as not to put on weight. In addition, there is not a lot of information about the effect of psychological factors, such as mood changes on REE during refeeding. Furthermore, energy metabolism can be severely changed by smoking, dieting or exercising. Therefore, some French researchers set out to identify the factors associated with the increase in REE during refeeding of AN patients.

Eighty-seven malnourished AN patients and 48 healthy, non-anorexic patients with the same characteristics were included in this study. The AN patients were hospitalized for tube feeding and renutrition for > 2 months. Before and 8, 30, and 45 days after the beginning of refeeding, REE was measured by indirect calorimetry. Energy intake (EI), physical activity, body composition via bioelectrical impedance, smoking behavior, abdominal pain, anxiety, depressive mood, serum thyrotropin and thyroid hormone, and urinary catecholamines were also measured. The same were also measured in 52 patients after 75 days of refeeding and in 18 patients after 1 year of complete recovery (defined as stable and normal BMI, normal El, disappearance of fear of eating and of becoming fat, and normal eating behavior at the 1-year visit, without relapse in the previous two months).

After one week ofrefeeding, total EI reached a mean of 2.5 times the initial intake and REE increased from 3.84 to 4.36 MJ/day. The 13.4% increase of REE was significantly greater than that expected on the basis of the increase in fat-free mass (FFM: 1.6%). The ratio of REE to FFM remained high and was significantly related to four factors: energy intake, anxiety, abdominal pain and depressive mood. The ratio also increased significantly with physical activity and cigarette smoking. The rise in REE related to the above factors leveled off after recavery from AN.

The data showed the role of factors such as anxiety, smoking, and activity level in the increased REE in AN patients. This knowledge should be used in conjunction with others in the tricky process of refeeding AN patients.

Virginie Van Wymelbeke, Laurent Brondel, Jean Marcel Brun and Daniel Rigaud, Factors associated with the increase in resting energy rxpenditure during refeeding in malnourished anorexia nervosa patients, Am J Clin Nutr 80: 1469-1477 (December 2004) [Address reprint requests and correspondence to D Rigaud, Service d'Endocrinologie, CHU Le Bocage, 21 079 Dijon Cedex, France. E-mail: Daniel.rigaud@chu-dijon.fr.]

COPYRIGHT 2005 Frost & Sullivan
COPYRIGHT 2005 Gale Group

Return to Anorexia nervosa
Home Contact Resources Exchange Links ebay