Anorexia nervosa in the context of "Physical restraint"

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⭐ Core Definition: Anorexia nervosa

Anorexia nervosa (AN), often referred to simply as anorexia, is an eating disorder characterized by food restriction, body image disturbance, fear of gaining weight, and an overpowering desire to be thin.

Individuals with anorexia nervosa have a fear of being overweight or being seen as such, despite the fact that they are typically underweight. The DSM-5 describes this perceptual symptom as "disturbance in the way in which one's body weight or shape is experienced". In research and clinical settings, this symptom is called "body image disturbance" or body dysmorphia. Individuals with anorexia nervosa may also deny that their symptoms or behaviors are indicative of illness. They may weigh themselves frequently, eat small amounts, and only eat certain foods. Some patients with anorexia nervosa binge eat and purge to influence their weight or shape. Purging can manifest as induced vomiting, excessive exercise, and/or laxative abuse. Medical complications may include osteoporosis, infertility, and heart damage, along with the cessation of menstrual periods. Complications in men may include lowered testosterone. In cases where the patients with anorexia nervosa continually refuse significant dietary intake and weight restoration interventions, a psychiatrist can declare the patient to lack capacity to make decisions. Then, these patients' medical proxies decide that the patient needs to be fed by restraint via nasogastric tube.

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Anorexia nervosa in the context of Hypothermia

Hypothermia is defined as a body core temperature below 35.0 °C (95.0 °F) in humans. Symptoms depend on the temperature. In mild hypothermia, there is shivering and mental confusion. In moderate hypothermia, shivering stops and confusion increases. In severe hypothermia, there may be hallucinations and paradoxical undressing, in which a person removes their clothing, as well as an increased risk of the heart stopping.

Hypothermia has two main types of causes. It classically occurs from exposure to cold weather and cold water immersion. It may also occur from any condition that decreases heat production or increases heat loss. Commonly, this includes alcohol intoxication but may also include low blood sugar, anorexia, and advanced age. Body temperature is usually maintained near a constant level of 36.5–37.5 °C (97.7–99.5 °F) through thermoregulation. Efforts to increase body temperature involve shivering, increased voluntary activity, and putting on warmer clothing. Hypothermia may be diagnosed based on either a person's symptoms in the presence of risk factors or by measuring a person's core temperature.

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Anorexia nervosa in the context of Anorexia (symptom)

Anorexia is a medical term for a loss of appetite. While the term outside of the scientific literature is often used interchangeably with anorexia nervosa, many possible causes exist for a loss of appetite, some of which may be harmless, while others indicate a serious clinical condition or pose a significant risk.

Anorexia in this usage is a symptom, not a diagnosis.

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Anorexia nervosa in the context of Interoception

Interoception is the collection of senses providing information to the organism about the internal state of the body. This can be both conscious and subconscious. It encompasses the brain's process of integrating signals relayed from the body into specific subregions—like the brainstem, thalamus, insula, somatosensory, and anterior cingulate cortex—allowing for a complex and highly accurate representation of the physiological state of the body. This is important for maintaining homeostatic conditions in the body and, potentially, facilitating self-awareness.

Interoceptive signals are projected to the brain via a diversity of neural pathways, in particular from the lamina I of the spinal cord along the spinothalamic pathway and through the projections of the solitary nucleus, that allow for the sensory processing and prediction of internal bodily states. Misrepresentations of internal states, or a disconnect between the body's signals and the brain's interpretation and prediction of those signals, have been suggested to underlie conditions such as anxiety, depression, panic disorder, anorexia nervosa, bulimia nervosa, posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD), attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), alexithymia, somatic symptom disorder, and illness anxiety disorder.

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Anorexia nervosa in the context of Appetite

Appetite is the desire to eat food items, usually due to hunger. Appealing foods can stimulate appetite even when hunger is absent, although appetite can be greatly reduced by satiety. Appetite exists in all higher life-forms, and serves to regulate adequate energy intake to maintain metabolic needs. It is regulated by a close interplay between the digestive tract, adipose tissue and the brain. Appetite has a relationship with every individual's behavior. Appetitive behaviour also known as approach behaviour, and consummatory behaviour, are the only processes that involve energy intake, whereas all other behaviours affect the release of energy. When stressed, appetite levels may increase and result in an increase of food intake. Decreased desire to eat is termed anorexia, while polyphagia (or "hyperphagia") is increased eating. Dysregulation of appetite contributes to ARFID, anorexia nervosa, bulimia nervosa, cachexia, overeating, and binge eating disorder.

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Anorexia nervosa in the context of Binge eating disorder

Binge eating disorder (BED) is an eating disorder characterized by frequent and recurrent binge eating episodes with associated negative psychological and social problems, but without the compensatory behaviors common to bulimia nervosa, OSFED, or the binge-purge subtype of anorexia nervosa.

BED is a recently described condition, which was introduced to distinguish binge eating similar to that seen in bulimia nervosa but without characteristic purging. Individuals who are diagnosed with bulimia nervosa or binge eating disorder exhibit similar patterns of compulsive overeating, neurobiological features such as dysfunctional cognitive control and food addiction, and biological and environmental risk factors. Some professionals consider BED to be a milder form of bulimia, with the two conditions on the same spectrum.

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Anorexia nervosa in the context of Eating disorders

An eating disorder (ED) is a mental disorder defined by abnormal eating behaviors that adversely affect a person's physical or mental health. These behaviors may include eating too much food or too little food, as well as body image issues. Types of eating disorders include binge eating disorder, where the person suffering keeps eating large amounts in a short period of time typically while not being hungry, often leading to weight gain; anorexia nervosa, where the person has an intense fear of gaining weight, thus restricts food and/or overexercises to manage this fear; bulimia nervosa, where individuals eat a large quantity (binging) then try to rid themselves of the food (purging), in an attempt to not gain any weight; pica, where the patient eats non-food items; rumination syndrome, where the patient regurgitates undigested or minimally digested food; avoidant/restrictive food intake disorder (ARFID), where people have a reduced or selective food intake due to some psychological reasons; and a group of other specified feeding or eating disorders. Anxiety disorders, depression and substance abuse are common among people with eating disorders. These disorders do not include obesity. People often experience comorbidity between an eating disorder and OCD.

The causes of eating disorders are not clear, although both biological and environmental factors appear to play a role. Cultural idealization of thinness is believed to contribute to some eating disorders. Individuals who have experienced sexual abuse are also more likely to develop eating disorders. Some disorders such as pica and rumination disorder occur more often in people with intellectual disabilities.

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