What are the consequences of anorexia?
Anorexia causes the person concerned great problems in the long run. This is because a lack of nutrients not only leads to a dwindling of fat reserves, but also damages all the patient’s organs. In addition to energy in the form of calories, essential vitamins and trace elements, which are needed to maintain vital functions of the body, are also missing.
Thus, for example, the gastrointestinal tract, the bones and ultimately even the brain are affected if the deficiency persists over a long period of time.In addition, a person’s appearance suffers when hair falls out, nails become brittle and the skin appears pale and dry. The psychological effects, on the other hand, cannot be seen from the outside. Anorexia is first and foremost a mental illness, which is perpetuated by the continuation of the eating disorder.
Underlying psychological problems intensify and new ones arise. While initially the cognitive performance increases, as the body mobilizes all its reserves in the face of a lack of nutrients, the ability to concentrate decreases in the long run and psychological illnesses such as depressions often occur. The following serious complications can occur with anorexia and bulimia nervosa:
- Cardiac arrhythmias
- Anaemia (low blood pressure)
- Electrolyte disorders (e.g. hypokalemia)
- Renal dysfunction
- Ulcers in the stomach or duodenum
- Nerve damage (polyneuropathy)
- Lanugo hair (downy hair)
- Brain atrophy (shrinking of the brain mass)
How often does anorexia lead to a relapse?
If the occurrence of psychological symptoms of anorexia is already counted as a relapse, almost all patients will suffer a relapse sooner or later. Again underweight after initially successful therapy and thus also physically relapsing, about 30% of those affected, i.e. in thirds, become underweight. In about 25% of all patients, i.e. a quarter, relapses occur again and again in the course of the disease and anorexia becomes a chronic problem of many years.
