Anorexia Nervosa is a serious psychological and possibly life-threatening eating disorder. People impacted by this disorder are afflicted by a very low weight as compared to the required weight basis their height.

BMI (Body Mass Index) as we all know if a measure or ratio frequently used by dieticians and doctors to access the suitability of weight and mostly it is used to diagnose those with eating disorders esp. with regard to estimating the appropriateness of body fat for somebody struggling with an eating disorder. Observations of character traits, exercise, and patterns may provide signals of a diagnosis. Those have a distorted body image and a morbid fear of gaining weight and often keep thinking that they look heavier than they are, hence they are forever scared to eat and stay far away from food.

Furthermore, girls and people who suffer from this disorder illustrate a fixation using eating patterns that are unusual and unusual and inappropriately thin body type features as well. Anorexia nervosa is synonymous to anorexia which refers to self-starvation and lack of appetite.

Important Kinds of Anorexia

There are two common types of anorexia as follows

Binge / Purge Sort – The individual struggling with this sort of eating disorder will frequently purge after ingestion. This alleviates the fear of gaining weight and offsets some of the guilt of having ingested prohibited, or food that is limited. The purge that is compensatory behavior by the person with Binge / Purge Type anorexia may purge by exercising too, vomiting or abusing laxatives.

Restrictive – The person suffering from restrictive anorexia is frequently perceived as exceptionally self-disciplined. They limit the number of meals, large and calories fat or higher sugar foods. They eat much lesser calories than is required to maintain a weight that is wholesome. This is a type of self-starvation.

Both two kinds display similar symptoms, like an irrational fear of weight gain and inappropriate eating patterns but have the abovementioned two classifications basis the type of existing disease.

It has been stated that genetics, as well as the environment, are two extremely important factors that result in an eating disorder with the scales shifting to either the obesity side or the Anorexic side.  This disorder is also based on ecological elements, character traits, and hereditary predisposition.

Few factors that could contribute to the incidence of this disorder are

• The impacts of the thinness as advertised and publicized by our media and the press, that continuously reinforce thin people as perfect role models
• Professions and professions that encourage being lean and weight reduction, for example, ballet and modeling
• Household and childhood traumas – childhood sexual abuse, acute injury
• Peer pressure amongst friends and colleagues to become slim and alluring.

The symptoms of anorexia nervosa are linked to starvation. Anorexia has problems involving irrational fear of gaining weight or getting obese and an unrealistic understanding of the real body type and body fat.

It could be tricky as to what is considered a minimal body weight as it differs for every individual, and a few people may not look thin irrespective of how little body fat they have because of their body type. Individuals with anorexia often disguise issues, eating habits or their thinness.

Physical Symptoms of Anorexia

Symptoms of anorexia may comprise of the following

• Intense weight loss or not reaching the anticipated developmental weight gains
• Extremely lean and thin body
• Abnormal blood counts, extreme tiredness
• Insomnia, dizziness or fainting
• Bluish discolored fingers
• Thinning and extremely brittle and unhealthy hair that breaks or falls out
• Soft, downy hair covering the entire body
• Missing menstrual cycles
• Dehydration, stomach pain, constipation, dry and yellow skin
• Cold intolerance, Arrhythmic heartbeats
• Low blood pressure
• Arms or thighs being inflamed
• Eroded teeth due to acid refluxes from many induces vomits and calluses on the knuckles from induced vomiting

Some men and women who have anorexia binge and purge, like those with bulimia. But individuals with anorexia have dangerously low body fat and they struggle, while people with bulimia are normal to above normal body weight.

Emotional and behavioral symptoms of Anorexia

Indicators of anorexia may include efforts to knock off kgs by

• Severely limiting food intake through fasting or dieting
• Exercising excessively and like possessed
• Bingeing on food followed by self-induced vomiting to throw food, including those consumed by the use of laxatives, enemas, diet guides or herbal products

Behavioral and emotional symptoms may include

• Preoccupation with food, occasionally cooking elaborate meals for others but not ingesting them
• Regularly skipping meals or refusal to consume
• Denial of appetite or creating excuses for not eating
• Eating just a few foods, generally those low in calories and fat
• Adopting a rigid meal or eating habits, like spitting food out after chewing
• Extreme unwillingness to consume food in the presence of other people
• Fretting about how much food s/he has consumed
• Fear of gaining weight including repeatedly weighing or measuring the body weight
• Regular checking the mirror to identify perceived defects
• Complaining about being obese or extreme sensitivity of some body parts perceived as obese
• Covering up in layers of clothes
• Lack of emotions, social withdrawals
• Irritability, Insomnia
• Almost no libido and decreased interest in sex

Nursing care plan for anorexia may involve medicine, psychotherapy, family therapy, and nourishment counseling.

Due to the unwillingness of patients to accept that they are anorexic, it can also be very difficult since the resistance to food is tough to break, so it takes quite a lot of effort to get started on the journey to engage them in therapy.

The individual’s engagement levels and willingness to accept their problem and make changes keep vacillating from none to some – so it takes quite an effort to get started on this journey.

A strategy must be tailored to satisfy the requirements of the individual.

Therapy goals are to do the following

• To make the individual eat and restore a healthy and reasonable body weight
• To address psychological problems, including reduced self-esteem and manage distorted thoughts about food and body image with very high maturity, high empathy and with real interest and wiliness to make a difference to the individual being supported
• To assist the patient, create behavioral adjustments which will persist in the Long-term

Nursing care plan for anorexia nervosa is generally long-term, and withdrawal and relapse are real possibilities and hence support from friends and family are contingent to lasting and effective results. If household members identify the danger signs and can understand the status, they can help prevent relapse and could always remain empathic and encouraging for their loved ones.

Nursing Intervention for Eating Disorders 

1. Set nutrient requirements and a weight target because malnutrition is an illness affecting and resulting in depression, agitation and having the right nutrition enriches thinking capability, and enhances the ability to work right.
2. Engage with the patient in helping them understand the problem and identify a target weight, chart out a system of behavior modification and set rewards for weight gains in a staggered fashion. This helps the client eating organized stimulation and hence modification could be a powerful tool to help achieve the desired objective of weight gain.
3. Use a consistent strategy whilst eating, sit with the customer gently take food servings for self and help the client without being judgemental and promoting a good and pleasant environment and note down the food ingested. Never be pushy on food as this helps the client to trust the consultant and this is found encouraging and clients tend to continue to experience the power to eat / not eat and with this gained trust, the consultant is slowly able to influence behaviors and shift mindset towards eating right. Reducing talks about food and structuring food patterns will reduce power struggles with the customer.
4. Provide smaller meals and add supplemental snacks and dishes suitably. This helps to refeed and protects the client from rapid Gastric dilation that may happen if too much food is ingested suddenly. The client may also feel bloated for 3-6 weeks.
5. Make menu suiting the tastes and choice of the client, so that the client remains in command. A client who feels in charge of surroundings builds self-confidence and is inclined to eat foods.
6. Be attentive to options of foods/beverages that are low carb; hoarding meals; Ingredient in areas like wastebaskets or pockets and the client may attempt to avoid taking in, perceived calorie dense foods and might go to great lengths to avoid eating.
7. Maintain a ritual, for example, take weights before breakfast on Mondays and Fridays and chart results. This will help understand the record of weight loss/gain and diminish obsessing about fluctuations in weight.
8. Do not see the weight scale when the client is weighing, this helps induce trust in the client. Though some applications prefer the customer to know the weight to understand the success of the program.
9. Consult with therapy staff as this is beneficial in determining proper and good sources and dietary requirements. Note that inadequate protein and calorie consumption may reduce immunity, cause liver damage, hallucinations, infections and lead to constipation.
10. If life-threatening, transfer the patient for therapy to the medical setting if the problem cannot be treated without hospitalization which provides a controlled environment where vomiting, food consumption, drugs, and actions can be tracked. Additionally, it provides exposure to other people with an identical problem, creating a feeling for sharing.

As patient recovery is ensured by postoperative nursing care, postoperative care is a vital element of the curing process. Post-operative care for individuals might be easy and may be short term or long term or may entail procedure for a few.

In case of long term post-operative care, a patient is much better off within the warmth or home rather than in a hospital. Aiding this kind of care is something that we provide from our home care nursing services. As a part of our services, our group of nurses and other caregivers, would come and see you and offer care. In some cases, the nurse may remain with the individual for 24*7 monitoring and attention.

Therefore, if you require nursing care in your home, look no further and trust your loved ones’ care to Care24 and we guarantee a satisfactory and quick recovery of the individual in the most effective and fastest way possible.