- Both anorexia and bulimia are much more common in women than in men.
- These are usually problems that begin in adolescence.
- For patients with these eating disorders to reach death, it usually takes years and therefore they should be classified as chronic diseases.
Anorexia and bulimia are the mental illnesses with the highest mortality rate, even above suicide. In fact, it is considered that one in five people who die from these eating behavior disorders (ED) took their own life, while the other four deaths are due to multiple organ failure. But now the controversy lies in the fact that some specialists consider that both pathologies should be classified as chronic diseases.
The reasons for this reasoning
In this case, the researcher from the UNAM Health and Food Laboratory, Karla Edith González Alcántara, specified that for a person with an eating disorder reaches death, they usually spend years with this condition. For this reason, he states that they should be considered as chronic diseases. He added that the symptoms do not disappear completely and the patients suffer a high percentage of relapses, 48 percent of the patients, on average.
“We are talking about a disorder that generates various consequences and, in addition, it seems that it is a health problem that is growing. That is something that we specialists must consider because it could be thought that the treatments with which we work and treat these patients are not working.”
When giving the conference “Risk eating behaviors”, said that anorexia and bulimia, in addition to being considered behaviors that individuals start at an early age – adolescents and young people – are based, above all, on the desire to change body image, especially to be thinner.
He explained that a person has anorexia when he refuses or restricts the consumption or intake of food, or engages in compensatory behaviors such as the use of laxatives or self-induced vomiting.
This is manifested in a body weight below normal or expected for their age, and presents an altered perception of their weight or body shape. While those with bulimia, the diagnostic criteria consider that they have a food intake in a quantity greater than that of any other individual in short periods of time, or what is called “binge eating”.
This behavior generates a feeling of loss of control of what they eat. In addition, “binge eating” is related to sensations such as feeling unpleasantly full to the point of wanting to vomit.
“Suddenly it gives them feelings of shame or guilt, because of those attitudes of overeating, even though they don’t feel a real need to eat and still do it.”
González Alcántara referred that they are diverse the consequences associated with both anorexia and bulimia, particularly if they occur for a long time. For example, anemia, tiredness, exhaustion and muscle weakness, including osteoporosis, brittle hair and nails, dry and yellowish skin, decreased body temperature from low calories, could be triggered, which could be related to hair growth on the body to keep warm.
In addition, low blood pressure, slow breathing and pulse, and more long-term infertility, heart and brain damage and, finally, organ failure, that is, “the time comes when due to lack of nutrients or severe dehydration, a multi-organ failure”.
In general, what is known about the epidemiology of eating disorders is that they tend to be a more common problem or have a higher incidence in adolescent women, although this does not mean that men do not present an eating disorder.
Currently, these problems are observed in five-year-old children, “that means that if we think about the physical consequences described, we have an even greater focus of alarm than we had some time ago.”
He pointed out that it appears that the prevalence of the disorders is relatively low; however, in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual (DSM, for its acronym in English) it is established that 0.4 percent of adolescent women globally will present anorexia and 1.5 percent bulimia. However, it is difficult to know how many people have been diagnosed, and even worse, to determine the number of those who carry out these behaviors.
In Mexico, in 2017, it was reported that approximately 20,000 cases of eating disorders were observed each year, an important figure. Meanwhile, in a study carried out in more than 200 countries in 2019 there were 13.6 million human beings who presented an eating disorder. “Although the prevalences seem lower, in reality we are talking about a significant number of people affected by these problems.”
The cases diagnosed in the country, he asserted, are just the tip of the iceberg of mental disorders, since few people reach specialized care, while there is a significant number of individuals who remain undiagnosed and, therefore, , No treatment. Which means that the prevalence data on eating disorders could be nine times higher than those registered.
Given this, he highlighted the need for specialists to work with people diagnosed with disorders and try to identify those who carry out these behaviors to prevent the numbers of these health problems from rising and not becoming a behavioral disorder. food, which have also been associated with depression, suicidal ideation and consumption of toxic substances.
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