10 Shockingly Terrible Eating-Related Diseases

Eating disorders are medically viewed as a profound disruption in eating habits which typically occur among young females. These disorders are characterized by behavioural issues that are brought by a complex factor, which may include personality disorder, family and society pressures, biological or genetic susceptibility, emotional and psychological disturbances, becoming obsessed with thinness, or overabundance of foods. Bulimia nervosa, anorexia nervosa and binge eating are three common identified eating disorders. Since the eating disorders are very unhealthy and can lead to a wide variety of serious health complications, medical assistance is always prompted.

Very often, it’s very hard to identify eating disorders, as the sufferers behave in a very secretive manner, attempting to hide away these disorders from their concerned family members, or friends. Nevertheless, some signs will alert you that someone is experiencing an eating disorder.

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Many signs of eating disorder always centre on food, body shape and weight. It’s bad if someone has a sudden weight loss that is not due to any medical causes. In many instances, eating disorders are accompanied with a condition of dramatically restriction on caloric intake, self-indulging vomiting, eating large amounts of food at once or at a time, self-isolation from any social activities that involved food, dissatisfaction on body image, weight, physical appearance or life, hair getting lank and stringy, obsessive behaviour on dieting, feeling a sense of general malaise, lack of energy, frequent purging behaviour, or wearing loose, baggy clothing to cover up weight loss.

In each instance of a case of the eating disorder, it’ll require immediate treatment for recovery. So, if you know or suspect anyone who has an eating disorder, please take an appropriate step by seeking them an immediate medical assistance to ensure that he or she is safe and healthy.

Anorexia Nervosa

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Anorexia (literally means “absence of appetite”) nervosa is an eating disorder driven by a desire to be thin and it affects mainly female aged between 15 and 34 years. This disorder occurs primarily in young adults and adolescents but sometimes it may also affect older women. According to the current data, 1 to 2% of the schoolgirls and university students are at higher risk of having Anorexia nervosa. Meanwhile, the latest studies estimate that 1 out of 100 female teens may have suffered from this disorder. It is particularly more prevalent in females even though its occurrence among the males is rising. Girls with this terrible disorder always experience a delayed onset of their menstrual period (they may also miss at least three consecutive menstrual periods) or may have to experience the consequences arising from the hormonal disturbances. If things become worse, it may even cause death.

Anorexia nervosa is said to cause by inherent biological factors, stress, recurrent affective illness, sufferer’s social environment and psychological factors. Chronic depression is also identified as a factor that causes chronic Anorexia nervosa. Most studies suggest that Anorexia nervosa has the highest death rate among other psychiatric disorders. People who have anorexia are always linked with higher risk of suicide, anxiety disorder (such as obsessive compulsive disorder) or depression.

Those suffering from Anorexia nervosa are extremely thin people. Their body weight is out of the normal range, which means their body mass index (BMI) is well below 17.5 or body weight is maintained at least 15% below the standard weight. Other physical consequences of Anorexia nervosa include constipation, hypotension, bradycardia, and sensitivity to cold. People with this disorder will engage in various ways to gain self-induced weight loss by avoiding fattening foods (they would rather stick to certain low calorie foods), taking intense and excessive exercise, using diuretics or laxatives or involving in self-induced vomiting (they force out the food they just eat by vomiting; and in certain times, they may use diuretics or laxatives in an attempt to control their food intake). This self-induced vomiting coupling with the abuse of purgatives is dangerous to the sufferers since they may lead to alkalosis (abnormally high alkalinity of the blood and body fluids) and hypokalaemia (a condition in which a serum potassium concentration is below 2 mmol/L).

Bulimia Nervosa

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Bulimia nervosa is a condition of uncontrolled excessive eating, which is always associated with Anorexia nervosa or termed as ‘binges’. It’s characterized by the sufferer’s attempt to avoid the fattening effects of periodic binges by self-induced vomiting (they force out the food they just eat by vomiting; and in certain times, they may use diuretics or laxatives in an attempt to control their food intake), laxative abuse or even misuse of drugs such as thyroid extract, anorectics or diuretics. Purging and vomiting may occur regularly in cycle. They tend to push their fingers to the back of the mouth to indulge vomiting, or they may train themselves to vomit at will. It’s very common to see them to pay a visit to the toilet straight after meals. Another symptoms of Bulimia nervosa include sudden drop in weight, tooth decay (caused by acid brought up from the stomach rotting the tooth enamel), and females may suffer from irregular periods, and the breast will also shrink due to a sudden weight loss.

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People with Bulimia always weight within the normal range for their height and weight due to the purging (purge at least twice a week for 3 months) and compensatory behaviours (such as self-induced vomiting, purging, excessive exercise, or fasting; taking laxatives, diet pills, or drugs to reduce fluids) that follow the Binge-eating (involves consuming larger than normal amounts of food within a 2-hour period) episodes. They feel dissatisfy with their bodies and thus they may fear of gaining weight or having an intense desire to reduce weight. They’re secretive enough to discuss on food and their weight.

Even though the cause of bulimia nervosa is still remained unknown, psychosocial factors (such as family conflict, maladaptive learned behaviour, self-identity or sexual abuse), physical appearance, parental obesity and psychological factors (such as depression, phobias, anxiety, suicide, suicide attempt) or obsessive compulsive disorder may contribute to its development. 

Binge Eating Disorder

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Binge eating is considered to be the most common eating disorder. It’s an eating disorder that sufferers experience frequent episodes of out-of-control eating at least 2 days a week for about 6 months. They eat much more rapidly than usual or past the point of being satiated; they eat alone when feeling of being depressed, guilty, disgusted, or embarrassed; they eat large amount of food (may consume 5,000 to 15,000 calories in one sitting) while not feeling physically hungry and to the point that they feel physically uncomfortable or they feel guilt after over-eating. That means when they’re in the recurrent episodes of Binge eating, they’ve their stomach filled with large quantity of food without the sense of controlling their excessive eating.

Nevertheless, Binge eating disorder is a separate condition as those with Bulimia since people with this disorder don’t purge their bodies for excess calories. Unlike Bulimia and Anorexia, they don’t vomit or undergo any weight-loss programs. Hence, many are found to be over-weight for their height and age. In any case, the Binge eating is not linked with compensatory behaviours (such as self-induced vomiting, excessive exercise or fasting).

Body Dysmorphic Disorder

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Body dysmorphic disorder (BDD) (also called “Body dysmorphia”, “Dysmorphic syndrome”, “Dysmorphophobia”, or “imagined ugliness”) is a type of chronic mental illness or a psychiatric disorder in which the sufferers fear of having deformity. The cause of BDD is still remained unknown, but experts believe that it’s associated with the problems of serotonin, one of the brain’s chemical neurotransmitters.

People with BDD can’t stop thinking about the defect (either that is minor or that they imagine) in their physical features. They find flaw in their appearance that is distressing and shameful to be seen by anyone, and thus causing them psychological distress that will definitely abuse their social and occupational image. BDD may also be seen as a major risk for suicidal attempt. Very often, they’ll stay for many hours in front of the mirror in a day to seriously obsess over their general appearance and body shape. They’ll never satisfy with their appearances as their thoughts are constantly preoccupied by the concern about their body parts. This includes concern on their breast size, body shape, facial flaw, nose too big, legs too short, face is scarred, lips too thin, eyes aren’t exactly the same size, body weight or the hair too thin. In short, people with BDD always have extreme anxious and annoyance about their external appearance. Due to the impact of depressive disorder and social isolation, they’ll find every attempt to “fix” their perceived flaws by means of cosmetic or surgery procedures.

Night Eating Syndrome

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Night eating syndrome (NES) is a type of eating disorder that is always highlighted by a pattern of late-night binge eating (involved the intake of carbohydrates or an occasional snack). It’s believed to be a result of the combination of psychological, biological and genetic factors. NES is also considered as a sleeping disorder since people are unaware of having eaten while asleep. They skip their breakfast but eat almost half of their daily calories at night (usually after 9 or 10p.m.), causing them to become obese or morbidly obese (life-threatening obesity). This eating disorder is related to nocturnal eating habit since they’ve episodes of sleep-eating (or continuously non-stop eating) throughout the night for as long as two months, with more frequent visits to the fridge, cupboard, or dining table. NES is viewed as a serious form of disease as it may cause depression, insomnia, sleepwalk, suicide, stress, significant weight gain, anxiety, and may also worsen the existing health condition.

Anorexia Athletica

Anorexia athletica (also known as “compulsive exercising disorder”) is a newly discovered disorder, in which the sufferers feel addicted to exercise; in contrary to that, they feel no obligation to do so. The victims are more prominently significant among females between the ages of 12 and 19. They may feel extreme guilt and anxiety for not being exercising, and even neither the injury nor the sickness can prevent themselves from fulfilling the need for doing exercise. They’re constantly depressed and concerned about what they’re eating for their meals due to the excessive phobia of becoming obese. Later, the extreme anxiety causes them to restrict the caloric intake in their normal diets. As a result, they don’t eat foods that they normally would, causing them sick for an illogical weight loss. Besides that, they may also suffer from a consequence such as abdominal distention, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, heartburn or constipation. Worst still, extreme workout and unhealthy eating, not only can lead them to stress and depression, but also death. 

Bigorexia

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Bigorexia (also known as “reverse anorexia nervosa”, “muscular dysmorphia”, “the Adonis Complex”, or “vigorexia”) is a specific type of body dysmorphic disorder which affects over thousands of males. People with this disorder tend to become obsessed with the thought that they’re “underweight”, “too small” or “too skinny”, but in fact, they’re above average in musculature. The disturbance in body image causes them checking themselves up more than 10 times a day as they concern more on the percentage of body fat they carry rather than being overweight. The low self-esteem concerning their perceived appearance can influence their mood, exemplify their depression or feelings of disgust, resulting their constant comparison with other person’s physical appearance. Being preoccupied with the flaws and false delusions in their appearance, they may isolate themselves from eating at a restaurant or another person’s house. In many cases, they may hide themselves away for days at a time just because they feel extremely embarrassing with their body shape. In certain cases, they may use anabolic steroids which later causes them experiencing acne, breast enlargement, testicular shrinkage, impotence, baldness and increased depression.

Orthorexia

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Orthorexia, or orthorexia nervosa is a term originated from the Greek “orthos” (which means “correct” or “right”) and “orexis” (which means “appetite”), and it was the term coined by a Colorado specialist, Dr. Steven Bratman in 1997. It’s a form of eating disorder characterized by a compulsion to eat a so-called healthy diet based upon the nutritional value of the foods. Individuals with this condition are perfectionists as they’ll always obsess over the quality of the foods they eat by going to extremes in pursuit of a “perfect” diet. They may spend 3 or more hours per day thinking about the healthy foods, frequently planning what to eat a day in advance.

With orthorexia, the sufferers have specific feelings towards different types of foods as they perceive biological foods as “healthy”, industrially produced foods as “artificial” and preserved foods as “dangerous”. In the attempt to obtain optimum healthy nutrition, the sufferers always go beyond the point that they become overweight. As this disorder progresses, the list of foods that is allowed to be added to their menu may become increasingly restrictive. Undoubtedly, their restrictive diet prevents them from being a part in many social functions, causing them to feel isolated from others. Very often, this healthful eating finally turns into fanaticism. Thus, Orthorexia is viewed as an obsessive-compulsive disorder or an unhealthy obsession as the extreme measure taken by the sufferers in the dietary restrictions may lead to severe malnutrition, or even death.

Prader-Willi Syndrome

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Prader-Willi syndrome (PWS) is a rare complex genetic disorder that is attributed to a spontaneous genetic error that happens at or near the time of conception for unexplainable reasons. The condition of PWS is that seven genes on chromosome 15 are found missing or unexpressed (or chromosome 15q partial deletion) on the paternal chromosome. It can be acquired after delivery if the hypothalamic portion of the brain is damage either due to injury or surgery.

PWS causes the sufferers to have short stature, incomplete sexual development, behavioural and psychological problems, cognitive disabilities and low muscle tone. It’s always associated with a chronic feeling of hunger and satiety, and apparently, it’s fully understood that they never feel full. This is due to that people with PWS have a flaw in the hypothalamus part of their brain and with this flaw; they cannot learn to control their diets. Hence, they’ve a continuous urge to eat more. However, the extreme and insatiable appetite can lead to excessive eating and morbid obesity (life-threatening obesity).

Pica

Pica is a term derived from the Latin word for magpie, which may result from psychiatric condition such as schizophrenia or obsessive-compulsive disorder. It refers to an eating disorder that involves ingesting non-nutritive substances (such as coal, clay, soil, chalk, paper, hair, gold coin, cigarette ashes, paint etc.), or an abnormal appetite for anything that may be considered foods. This disorder persists for more than one month and it’s usually first diagnosed in childhood, infancy and adolescence. Scientists suggest that Pica is caused primarily by those who suffer biochemical or iron deficiency. Pica may exhibit an unusual eating habit as listed below:

• acuphagia – ingestion of sharp objects
• amylophagia – consumption of cornstarch or laundry starch
• geomelophagia – abnormal ingestion of raw potatoes
• geophagia – consumption of soil, clay, or chalk
• coniophagia – consumption of dust
• coprophagia – consumption of feces
• gooberphagia – pathological consumption of peanuts
• lithophagia – ingestion of stones
• xylophagia – consumption of wood picks
• mucophagia – consumption of mucus
• trichophagia – consumption of hair or wool
• onychophagia – the habit of biting/eating one’s nails
• pagophagia – the compulsive eating of ice (a common symptom of a lack of iron)

Final Remarks

If you or someone you know exhibits the listed symptoms and conditions in this article, please do not hesitate to seek for an immediate medical assistance or call your family doctor for further advice and diagnosis.

As with all types of eating related diseases described here, I’d strongly recommend you to seek for a medical assistance or further advice from a registered doctor, nutritionist, or therapist to have your problem fixed. The sooner you consult them, the sooner your condition can be treated. Once again, please listen to Chan’s advice: Don’t take thing for granted! Get help while the condition is still not at the chronic stage! I wish you all good lucks and best wishes. Sincerely yours, CHAN LEE PENG.

Now, you can gain more health knowledge by visiting my health blog entitled HealthAssist. More upcoming updates and latest health information are right on the way!