What are the side effects of an eating disorder?
The sooner an eating disorder is recognized the easier it may be to treat or reverse. However, for many victims eating disorders become a life-long struggle. Anorexia may cause death (as for the singer Karen Carpenter) and it is not just a benign annoyance that can be treated outside a hospital. Eating disorders can lead to severe electrolyte imbalances (problems with your salt balance) that can lead to heart arrhythmias (irregular heart rhythms), which can lead to death. Most women who have anorexia stop having their periods. This leads to decreased bone density (less calcium in the bones) which may be a permanent after-affect even when the person is back to eating normally. Many former anorectics have such bad osteoporosis that they suffer stress bone fractures while they are in their 20s and 30s. Some anorectics never reestablish a very normal menstrual cycle even after recovery, which may affect their future fertility (having children). What is the treatment for an eating disorder?
