Williams,+anorexia

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= Anorexia Nervosa =

I chose this topic because my identical twin sister struggled with anorexia for eight years. It is a topic near and dear to my heart and something that I am passionate about. I believe that anorexia is glamorized by our culture and as a result many are ill-informed regarding the seriousness of this disease. It is often times viewed as a "phase" that one will grow out of; perpetuating the illusion that anorexia is a choice. Rather, anorexia is in fact a disease that needs to be treated like any other life  threatening physical disease.



= 1.) What is Anorexia Nervosa? = A complex eating disorder with three key features:
 * Refusal to maintain body weight
 * Intense fear of gaining weight
 * Distorted body image

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= 2.) Symptoms of Anorexia: = = 3.) Behaviors of Anorexia: =
 * Intense fear of gaining weight or becoming fat
 * Refusal to maintain weight at what is considered normal or average for her age and height.
 * Distorted body image
 * Refusal to admit seriousness of weight loss
 * Cessation of menstrual cycle
 * Blotchy or yellow skin
 * Confused or slow thinking/poor memory or judgment
 * Depression
 * Extreme sensitivity to cold
 * <span style="color: #800080; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Loss of bone strength
 * <span style="color: #800080; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Cutting food into small pieces or moving them around plate
 * <span style="color: #800080; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Excessive exercising
 * <span style="color: #800080; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Using restroom directly after meals
 * <span style="color: #800080; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Refusal to eat around other people
 * <span style="color: #800080; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Using diuretics, laxatives, enemas, or diet pills
 * <span style="color: #800080; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">[|Pro Anorexia Tips]

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=<span style="color: #4f0080; font-family: 'Arial Black',Gadget,sans-serif;">4.) Who is at risk for Anorexia? =
 * 9 5% of people affected by anorexia are women; most often teenage girls.
 * It is estimated that 1 out of 100 girls in the United States has the eating disorder Anorexia Nervosa.
 * It is more commonly seen in middle and upper socioeconomic groups.
 * In people whom thinness is especially desirable or in which it is a professional requirement (i.e. ballerina, athlete, dancers, models, etc.)
 * Caucasians are more commonly affected.

=<span style="color: #4f0080; font-family: 'Arial Black',Gadget,sans-serif;">5.) How is Anorexia diagnosed? =
 * <span style="color: #800080; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Anorexia is often very difficult to diagnose due to the secretive nature of the disease. Oftentimes, the person with the disease is in denial and will go to great lengths to hide their eating disorder. The eating disorder is not often diagnosed until medical complications arise. It is also often necessary to gain information from people close to the individual with anorexia as marked weight loss is not enough to diagnose.

=<span style="color: #4f0080; font-family: 'Arial Black',Gadget,sans-serif;">6.) Warning signs: = =<span style="color: #4f0080; font-family: 'Arial Black',Gadget,sans-serif;">Anorexia in Real Life: =
 * Excessive interest in dieting or thinness
 * Refusal to eat
 * Denial of hunger
 * Making excuses for not eating
 * Weighing food
 * Skipping meals
 * Cooking elaborate meals for others but refusing to eat
 * Excessive exercise
 * Obsession with body size

=<span style="color: #4f0080; font-family: 'Arial Black',Gadget,sans-serif;">Part One: = media type="custom" key="12936966"

=<span style="color: #4f0080; font-family: 'Arial Black',Gadget,sans-serif;">Part Two: = media type="custom" key="12936968"

=<span style="color: #4f0080; font-family: 'Arial Black',Gadget,sans-serif;">Part Three: = media type="custom" key="12936974" =<span style="color: #4f0080; font-family: 'Arial Black',Gadget,sans-serif;">Treatment for Anorexia: =
 * <span style="color: #800080; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Medical care
 * <span style="color: #800080; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Restoring a healthy body weight
 * <span style="color: #800080; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Psychotherapy
 * <span style="color: #800080; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Individual therapy
 * <span style="color: #800080; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Group therapy
 * <span style="color: #800080; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Family therapy
 * [|Kartini Clinic]
 * [|Center for Change]

=<span style="color: #5c0080; font-family: 'Arial Black',Gadget,sans-serif;">Catalog of Resources used: = =<span style="color: #4f0080; font-family: 'Arial Black',Gadget,sans-serif;">If you could view only one thing: =
 * http://www.centerforchange.com/
 * This is a website for the foundation Center for Change. I would give this a 5/5 as it is extremely informative and focused on treatment.
 * http://www.mayclinic.com/health/anorexia
 * This is one of the most useful sources I found. I found it to be quite accurate in its information and covered a wide scope of anorexia topics, including: definition, signs/warnings, treatment, etc. I would give it a 5/5.
 * http://www.youtube.com (Searched Anorexia)
 * This is a difficult site to score. It had some good videos and some bad videos. It's hit and miss and takes a lot of discretion. However, the 5 videos I found I would rate a 4/5 for information purposes and accuracy.
 * http://www.timberlineknolls.com/eating-disorder/anorexia
 * This is a website for a private residential treatment center. I do not know anything about this treatment center except that it had accurate useful information regarding various aspects of anorexia. I would rate it 5/5; very informative.
 * http://medicnenet.com/anorexia
 * This is your basic medical information website. I would give it a 3/5 as it seemed a bit oversimplified and didn't prove very helpful in my research.
 * http://www.helpguide.org/mental/anorexia
 * This is a non profit resource with various articles regarding health challenges. I would give it a 4/5 as it did prove helpful in my research and was quite informative.
 * http://www.womenshealth.gov
 * This is a website dedicated to women's health. I would give this site a 5/5 as it covered a wide variety of anorexia issues and included various personal accounts from women who have experienced eating disorders.
 * http://www.webmd.com
 * This is a basic medical information website. In terms of using it for research on this topic I would give it a 3/5 as it was very surface/simple information regarding anorexia.
 * <span style="color: #800080; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">If you could view only one thing on this wiki page, I would suggest looking at "Number One" and viewing the video. It is a simple video but explains the basic idea of what anorexia is and who it affects.