Did you know that anorexia is not a disease?

Anorexia Nervosa is.

But anorexia is simply the lack of appetite.

The most common cause?

Eating.

It was also listed as a side effect of vitamin A overdose. (I ate alot of carrots today, just making sure I won't die, lol)

Here's my source (I know, wikepedia isn't the best source. Feel free to yell at me if I'm wrong.):

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anorexia_%28symp tom%29

Happy daylight savings!

wrong. When I was anorexic I had huge appetite, but I just ignored it. Do more reading before you pretend to know about it. The most common cause? Stress, insecurity, family/friend issues, fear of growing up, etc. And what the heck does carrots have to do with anything?

swimchick, I think you're missing the whole point of the post.  Duckie is trying to get across the common misuse of the term "anorexia".  you had anorexia nervosa. Simply being anorexic means you have no appetite (like when you are sick, for example)

That's what I meant sirk.

I'm sorry swimchick. I didn't mean to offend anyone.

As for the carrots, I heard that if you eat a lot you turn orange. So I did some research to see if it was true and found that link instead.

A lot of times when people say anorexia, they actually mean anorexia nervosa. And it's not because they are uninformed.. it's because it's less effort to say and type and everyone else will understand just the same.

On the other hand, if I posted "I was anorexic today", no one would understand me at all.

Another example of the differences between common and scientific use, thats all... 

Yea...its a complicated issue. My therapist said starving myself was an effect of the bigger  psycological problem. Anorexia itself means "loss of appetite" and I guess nervosa means "nervous" so it really doesnt make a whole lot of sense, but whatever, I just know its complicated.

... and this is why Wikipedia is not considered 'cite-able' by universities.  I'm sure dictionary.com says the same thing.

Actually, according to Medicine.net...

Anorexia: An eating disorder characterized by markedly reduced appetite or total aversion to food. Anorexia is a serious psychological disorder. It is a condition that goes well beyond out-of-control dieting. The person with anorexia, most often a girl or young woman, initially begins dieting to lose weight. Over time, the weight loss becomes a sign of mastery and control. The drive to become thinner is thought to be secondary to concerns about control and fears relating to one's body. The individual continues the endless cycle of restrictive eating, often to a point close to starvation. This becomes an obsession and is similar to an addiction to a drug. Anorexia can be life-threatening. Also called anorexia nervosa.

Medicine Net is a  Nationally recognized, Doctor-Produced network of over 70 U.S. Board Certified Physicians, MedicineNet.com is the trusted source for online health and medical information.

Oh i see...so anorexia alone means loss of appetite but when paired with nervosa it is a mental illness. got it, sry.

Original Post by fransen:

Actually, according to Medicine.net...

Anorexia: An eating disorder characterized by markedly reduced appetite or total aversion to food. Anorexia is a serious psychological disorder. It is a condition that goes well beyond out-of-control dieting. The person with anorexia, most often a girl or young woman, initially begins dieting to lose weight. Over time, the weight loss becomes a sign of mastery and control. The drive to become thinner is thought to be secondary to concerns about control and fears relating to one's body. The individual continues the endless cycle of restrictive eating, often to a point close to starvation. This becomes an obsession and is similar to an addiction to a drug. Anorexia can be life-threatening. Also called anorexia nervosa.

Medicine Netis a  Nationally recognized, Doctor-Produced network of over 70 U.S. Board Certified Physicians, MedicineNet.com is the trusted source for online health and medical information.

Anorexia is a lack of appetite. Anorexia nervosa is an eating disorder. The two are not used interchangeably by those in the health profession. A nurse friend of mine says any patient that doesn't want to eat is written up as anorexic, but that doesn't mean they are all sent to the mental health ward for psychiatric treatment.

Turning orange after eating lots of carrots happens to babies! I don't know if adults could eat that many of them, but I did it to my daughter when she was  a baby - she just loved carrots and sweet potatoes - looked for a while like she had a kind of tan! LOL

Kim

>>> As for the carrots, I heard that if you eat a lot you turn orange. So I did some research to see if it was true and found that link instead. >>>

Original Post by swimchick_123:

wrong. When I was anorexic I had huge appetite, but I just ignored it.

 You can lose your appetite and still be hungry, just like you can be full and not hungry yet still not be satisfied,

Don't be silly.  The word anorexia may literally mean "lack of appetite", but people use it in everyday language to describe a person who suffers from Anorexia Nervosa.  Everyday language.  This forum is not meant for describing a patient's condition to their doctor.  Don't be so picky with words, they're meant to communicate, not to start arguments.  You know what people mean when they say someone is anorexic, that is all that matters! 

And no, you cannot lose your appetite and still be hungry.  Your appetite is your hunger.  They are synonyms.  Study some english, perhaps? 

 

Original Post by briley:
And no, you cannot lose your appetite and still be hungry. Your appetite is your hunger. They are synonyms. Study some english, perhaps?

 

Oh sorry briley I was just trying to interpret this sentence from wikipedia "The appetite is the desire to eat food, felt as hunger" So in the case of anorexia the victim has no desire to eat for fear of getting fat yet they still feel hungry, so you can see my logic in coming to that conclusion,

And saying appetite and hunger are the same is really ignorant especially coming from someone whos trying to lose weight and knows what its like to mindlessly eat without feeling hungry

, really appetite stimulation of the appestat due to  hunger which is a phyical response to low blood sugar levels,  an empty stomach, leptin/ghrelin levels, but even if you hadnt eaten for 12 hours would you have the desire to eat a bowl of offal if it were presented to you? probably not.  so you can tell me  "you cannot lose your appetite and still be hungry" but I dont believe you.

 

I think of appetite as a desire for a certain kind of food or taste or texture while hunger is my body's signal that I need fuel.

So I might have an appetite for chocolate but I'm not really hungry. I just want that taste.

just to try to settle the debate, anorexia nervosa (if u actually have the condition) is a distortment of reality where the sufferer sees him or herself as bigger than he/she really is. the term is overused in today's society. people who dont eat because they just dont have an appetite or because they want to be thin so they ignore their hunger are called annorexic, but to have annorexia nervosa is to have the actual distortment of reality. many young girls who have this distortment of reality do end up turning to extreme means of losing the weight, but that doesnt mean that everyone who goes to extreme lengths is actually suffering from the distorment of reality.

hope that helps :) 

Original Post by imccarthy:

Original Post by fransen:

Actually, according to Medicine.net...

Anorexia: An eating disorder characterized by markedly reduced appetite or total aversion to food. Anorexia is a serious psychological disorder. It is a condition that goes well beyond out-of-control dieting. The person with anorexia, most often a girl or young woman, initially begins dieting to lose weight. Over time, the weight loss becomes a sign of mastery and control. The drive to become thinner is thought to be secondary to concerns about control and fears relating to one's body. The individual continues the endless cycle of restrictive eating, often to a point close to starvation. This becomes an obsession and is similar to an addiction to a drug. Anorexia can be life-threatening. Also called anorexia nervosa.

Medicine Netis a  Nationally recognized, Doctor-Produced network of over 70 U.S. Board Certified Physicians, MedicineNet.com is the trusted source for online health and medical information.

Anorexia is a lack of appetite. Anorexia nervosa is an eating disorder. The two are not used interchangeably by those in the health profession. A nurse friend of mine says any patient that doesn't want to eat is written up as anorexic, but that doesn't mean they are all sent to the mental health ward for psychiatric treatment.

So you know more than the board of 70 doctors? Wonder why you don't have your own clinic.

Literally, "anorexia" is Latin for "without appetite".  Anorexia nervosa is the psychological condition that often accompanies bulimia, body dysmorphia, amenorrhea and other conditions, but I don't recall seeing anyone call it the same thing as those (even though the online dictionary defines it in terms of the "associated" conditions).

That said, I did write a journal post a while back where I called myself the "200 lb Anorexic".  Cause, see, I underate for so long that I lost part of my appetite, plus I was calorie deficient (akin to anorexia nervosa sufferers). But literally, "anorexic".