Anorexia nervosa is an eating disorder that causes the sufferer to voluntarily deprive himself or herself of food or to consume extremely limited amounts of food that are not compatible with the body’s demands, resulting in maintaining a body weight below values considered “normal” for a person of a given age and height.
Those who suffer from anorexia, even though they are already thin or underweight, are constantly worried about their weight, which is always considered excessive or barely acceptable, and cannot tolerate gaining even a few pounds, even in the face of obvious health risks from nutrition.
If not diagnosed and treated in time, the disease can lead to extreme and life-threatening states of metabolic impairment, which must be managed in a hospital setting, including through force-feeding.
Anorexia is a chronic disease: its severity can vary greatly from person to person and over the course of the same person’s lifetime, ranging from very severe states/periods of great suffering to mild forms/phases of relative well-being. Even after overcoming the most critical stage, those suffering from anorexia remain, however, at risk of relapse throughout their lives, especially during periods of increased psychological stress.
