ANOREXIA NERVOSA

• Extreme thinness (emaciation)
• A relentless pursuit of weight-loss
• Unwillingness to maintain a normal or healthy weight
• Intense fear of gaining weight
• Distorted body image
• Lack of menstruation among girls and women
• Extremely restricted eating
• Thinning of the bones
• Brittle hair and nails
• Dry and yellowish skin
• Growth of fine hair all over the body
• Mild anaemia
• Muscle wasting and weakness
• Severe constipation
• Low blood pressure
• Slowed breathing and pulse
• Damage to the structure and function of the heart
• Brain damage
• Multi-organ failure
• Drop in internal body temperature, causing a person to feel cold all the time
• Lethargy, sluggishness, or feeling tired all the time
• Infertility.

BULIMIA NERVOSA

• Recurrent and frequent episodes of eating unusually large amounts of food and feeling a lack of control over these episodes, followed by behaviour that compensates for the overeating such as forced vomiting, excessive use of laxatives or diuretics, fasting, excessive exercise, or a combination of these behaviours.
• Chronically inflamed and sore throat
• Swollen salivary glands in the neck and jaw area
• Worn tooth enamel, increasingly sensitive and decaying teeth as a result of exposure to stomach acid
• Acid reflux disorder and other gastrointestinal problems
• Intestinal distress and irritation from laxative abuse
• Severe dehydration from purging of fluids
• Electrolyte imbalance (too low or too high levels of sodium, calcium, potassium and other minerals) which can lead to heart attack

EATING DISORDER NOT OTHERWISE SPECIFIED (ED-NOS)

TREATMENT

• Individual, group, and/or family psychotherapy
• Medical care and monitoring
• Nutritional counselling
• Medications
• Some patients may also need to be hospitalized to treat problems caused by malnutrition or to ensure they eat enough if they are very underweight.