Anoerxia nervosa

Anorexia nervosa is an eating disorder usually found in young adults. It is when they refuse to eat, or maintain a healthy body weight. It is more commonly found in females, affecting about 2% of the female population, as opposed to .2% of the male population (http://health.yahoo.com/health/encyclopedia/000362/0.html). Even more so, it is found in Caucasian women who are very goal-oriented. This led me to believe that she wants to be the perfect person, all around, so she must feel the need to look perfect, physically.

Anorexia is described to be a weight loss of 15% or more below the average body weight for someone their age, and height. Someone with anorexia nervosa could have problems with their skin, making it turn a yellowish color, or look slightly blotchy. In females, there could also be an absence, or delay to menstruation. Depression usually follows one with an eating disorder, and many people fail to realize they even have one.

Dopamine and serotonin pathways.

Two images of an anorexic female patient published...

A summary of the strategy Zucker et al. (2007) use...

If they are aware of the fact, they often deny it.

If the person is aware of their eating disorder, they have a much better chance of recovering from it. Some people slip very far into it, and fall 30% or more below their "normal" body weight, which usually calls for hospitalization (http://health.yahoo.com/health/encyclopedia/000362/1.html). There, they go through much therapy, and get put on a much healthier diet. If it's bad enough, they will go on to send nutrients to the person through a vein.

If a person is at a younger age when they come in contact with this disease, they have a better chance to recover. I thought this may be because the person still looks up to others, and may trust in what they are saying more so than they do themselves. Anorexia is a very scary disease,