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In today’s fashion-conscious culture impossible standards of beauty are pressured upon everyone. Many feel such pressure to maintain a perfect body that they develop eating disorders. This is especially true with young girls.

Anorexia is often thought of as an eating disease. Further studies show that anorexia is more of an addiction. Anorexia is comparable to the highly addictive drug Ecstacy. Both appear to activate some of the same brain pathways.

There are receptors in the brain that associate with feelings of reward. Anorexia and Ecstasy both stimulate the same subset of brain receptors for the neurotransmitter serotonin, and reduce the drive to eat. This may explain the addictive nature of anorexia. The results of this research may lead to new treatments for eating disorders.

Like any other addiction, people that have eating disorders need help. If you think someone in your family has an eating disorder problem, talk to them and get them help.

news-medical.net

In a society that is increasingly placing standards of beauty upon the youths of our population, people are at more of a risk than ever of developing an eating disorder. Celebrities in television and the media display stick-thin figures which can create a high standard of beauty. This ‘model of beauty’ can lead to many problems with an individual’s self esteem. But, what if you are also diabetic? Studies show that women with Type 1 diabetes are twice as likely to develop an eating disorder.

Many teenage girls with Type 1 diabetes are obsessed with their appearance and have found out by not taking insulin they can loose weight. Many take it a step further and are suffering from bulimia. This disorder now has a recognizable name – Diabulimia.

Diabulimia is usually practiced by teenage girls and young women, and it may be growing more common as the secret is exchanged on Internet bulletin boards for diabetics and those with eating disorders. One expert who has studied the phenomenon estimates that 450,000 Type 1 diabetic women in the United States — one-third of the total — have skipped or shortchanged their insulin to lose weight and are risking a coma and an early death.

When Type 1 diabetics skip or reduce their insulin, they risk falling into a coma or even dying. Blindness, amputations and kidney failure are some of the long-term complications that can develop.

CNN.com