Eating disorder dangers

Eating disorders are quite dangerous and may lead to severe physical and mental deterioration and even death. In fact, some health experts claim that eating disorders like bulimia and anorexia take more lives than any other mental disorders. The eating disorders create a sense of hopelessness and lead to suicide or other life-threatening outcomes. A person suffering from this condition does not know how to find help and finds him/herself trapped and overwhelmed by helplessness. Moreover, the disorder itself wreaks havoc upon the organism of the sufferer, leading to serious malfunctions and damage.

Anorexia Nervosa

This eating disorder is considered to be one of the most common and most dangerous types. It leads to eating less food than necessary, triggering numerous health issues due to the lack of nutrients one's organism gets.

Some of the problems an anorexic person may face are heart diseases, manifesting through slow heart rate and very low blood pressure. People with heart disease have increased chances of suffering from a heart attack taking place due to dehydration which goes hand-in-hand with anorexia. The dehydration may also lead to kidney failure, potentially jeopardizing a person's life.

Lack of nutrients causes bone loss since bones in an anorexic person's organism become fragile, lose their density and turn brittle and dry. Alternatively, these individuals are quite prone to developing osteoporosis, leading to breaking hips and suffering from many other fractures, even at a very young age. Our body stores calcium until we are 25. If we do not give it enough of calcium, illnesses of this type will take place.

As far as other side-effects of anorexia are concerned, muscle weakness, as well as skin and hair deterioration may appear. On the other hand, in order to protect itself, the organism of anorexic people may develop a condition called lanugo, where hair may grow all over one's skin.

Bulimia Nervosa

As far as bulimia nervosa (a condition involving overeating and making up for this through vomiting or rejecting food in some other way) is concerned, it can also trigger severe health problems.

Basically, potassium, sodium and chloride loss during the usual patterns behind this disorder lead to dangerous blood clots, potentially being created due to irregular heartbeats.

Stomach ulcers and other intestinal problems may stem from this eating disorder too, along with severe dental decay due to exposure of the teeth to stomach acids during the frequent vomiting rituals.

Some people with bulimia may use different medications like laxatives in order to get rid of the food they consumed. Then, the drugs may lead to side-effects and trigger some serious organism problems.