Bulimia NervosaBulimia Nervosa is a serious eating disorder in which the sufferer binges and then vomits, often repeatedly, in order to lose or control weight.
People suffering from bulimia are often slightly overweight and they often eat large quantities of food before making themselves sick. Treatment looks at the whole lifestyle of the person. People suffering from Bulimia need special support from doctors, psychiatrists and dieticians. Princess Diana suffered from Bulimia NervosaAnorexia NervosaAnorexia Nervosa is a disruption in normal eating habits characterised by an all-consuming fear of becoming “fat.
” It typically starts in teenage women as a normal attempt to diet but gradually leads to more and more weight loss, often more than 25 percent of original body weight. There is an intense obsession with food and body size, which may involve compulsive exercising. As this happens, many normal activities may stop. Menstruation ceases in women and there are a number of physical symptoms of malnutrition such as lowered heart rate, low blood pressure, decreased metabolic rate and feelings of coldness.
People with anorexia nervosa are obsessed with food and deny that they have a problem or that they are too thin. They may be able to work or study and have some social life but usually function far below their potential. Frequently they are also depressed. Some people with extreme cases of anorexia starve themselves to death.
Others check the downward spiral of weight loss and maintain a steady but seriously underweight condition. In all cases, even massive weight losses don’t stop the sufferer feeling “fat.”ObesityIf you consume more calories than you burn, you will gain weight. The tricky part of the equation is that some people metabolise food differently from others.
Why this happens is complex and not entirely clear to researchers, who continue to be surprised by each new finding. For example, one recent study concluded that heavy people actually burn calories faster than underweight people because their metabolism speeds up as they put on pounds, and slows if they try to take them off.You are considered obese if you have A body-fat percentage greater than 30 percent for women and 25 percent for men or if you weigh 20 percent more than your ideal body weight. Your ideal weight is based on your gender, age and typical activity level whether you tend to be inactive or active.
Coeliacs DiseaseThe human body”s immune system is designed to recognise any foreign material in the body and start up a complicated series of events to remove the foreign material. Normally this system recognises foreign material like viruses, bacteria or a thorn in the skin. The defence mechanisms then destroy these and protect us from further infection.This defence mechanism also monitors the uptake of digested food in the small intestine.
Starches, sugars and fats are simple molecules and present no problem to this system. The more complex proteins may be recognised as foreign and stimulate the immune system, particularly if the lining of the small intestine has suffered slight damage and the protein is being absorbed in an undigested state.Gluten is a mixture of complex protein found in the grain of wheat, barley and rye and to a smaller extent in oats. It is also found in the wild relatives of these grains such as spelt.
Gluten is recognised as a foreign substance by the lining of the small intestine in some people. This results in an immune response: inflammation with swelling and soreness. Over a period of time the lining of the small intestine breaks down and loses the tiny villi that absorb the food. This is the coeliac condition.
Once this has happened the only cure is to avoid all food that contains glutenDiabetesDiabetes means that your blood sugar is too high. Your blood always has some sugar in it because the body needs sugar for energy to keep you going. But too much sugar in the blood is not good for your health.How do you get high blood sugar?Your body changes most of the food you eat into sugar.
Your blood carries the sugar to your body cells. The sugar needs insulin to get into the body cells. Insulin is a chemical a hormone made in a part of the body called the pancreas. The pancreas releases insulin into the blood.
Insulin helps the sugar from food get into body cells. If your body doesn”t make enough insulin or the insulin doesn”t work right, the sugar cannot get into the cells. It stays in the blood. This makes your blood sugar level high, causing you to have diabetes.What are signs of diabetes?The signs of diabetes are:being very thirstyurinating oftenfeeling very hungry or tiredlosing weight without tryinghaving sores that are slow to healhaving dry, itchy skinlosing feeling in the feet or having tingling in the feethaving blurry eyesight
