Wellness Web

About the author: Wellness Web is a website created through the collaboration of patients, healthcare professionals, and caregivers. Their mission is to help individuals find the best and most appropriate health information available.

Anorexia nervosa is an eating disorder that generally affects women from ages fifteen to thirty-five. It is defined as self-starvation to the point of reducing body weight to the level of 15 percent below normal. In its early stages, the disease often goes undetected because it is masked as a standard diet. There are a number of factors believed to contribute to the onset of anorexia, including extreme dieting, societal pressure to be thin, and family problems. However, most experts believe that ultimately anorexics are driven by a need for control in their lives. Intervention and therapy are critical for anorexics since the disease is life-threatening...