The eating disorder anorexia nervosa affects many women and some cases remain undiagnosed for years. Early diagnosis and treatment increases recovery rates dramatically and knowing how to recognize signs and symptoms of anorexia assists all concerned to combat the condition effectively. Facts about anorexia are:

• It seems to be more prevalent in Hispanic and Caucasian females compared to Asian and Black females.

• It is more common in females between 15 and 23 years of age (alarming statistics show that a younger age group is emerging).

Our world is based upon social stigmas that we must all look thin. This idea of thin begins to hit our children as early as 10 or 11 years of age. Young girls are the ones hit hardest by this social disease and when simple dieting turns into an obsession wit weight, that is when dieting can turn fatal.

Control. Control is at the heart of the reason why many girls choose to try an eating disorder to lose weight. The eating disorders that are most common are anorexia nervosa and bulimia nervosa. Anorexia is the starving of the human body in order to lose weight and bulimia is most commonly a disorder involving eating large amounts of food and then throwing that food back up.

Anorexia nervosa has the highest mortality rates of any psychiatric condition – 10% of those diagnosed die due to related factors. This eating disorder primarily affects women, especially adolescent girls, struggling with the pressure of today’s society to be thin. The obsessive fear of gaining weight, combined with body image distortion is a deadly lethal mix. It drives individuals to try to control their body weight by voluntary starvation, binge-eating, purging, vomiting and excessive exercise.

When I hear the word anorexia, I usually think of Nicole Ritchie, Lindsey Lohan and the Olsen Twins. Every gossip rag at the supermarket’s check out counter has always some big bold letters announcing which female celebrity is seeking treatment for it. So I was quite surprised when I picked up our local newspaper last week and read about Dennis Quaid and his battle with “manorexia” – the male version of anorexia. Well, well, well…. What do we have here? It seems that the big Hollywood trend of “skin and bones” is not just limited to its female population.