Physical consequences of eating disorders may be irreversible

Eating disorders are harmful in a variety of physical ways, especially to teens.

Lifelong limits

"Life threatening" doesn't mean only fatal - it means it can threaten your ability to live and grow. It may not seem fair, but the fact is that teenagers, who are the most vulnerable to develop eating disorders, are also the group more likely to be most damaged by them, because their bodies are developing.

People who develop anorexia before adulthood may not grow to their full size, and low levels of essential hormones can limit healthy development, including the healthy development of the ability to have children. Even after recovery and weight restoration, a person may not catch up to expected normal height. Poor nutrition may retard the growth of essential bone structure, and weaker bones are easier to break. During high-growth periods of adolescence, broken bones may not heal properly, and the weakened bone mass may never recover.

Other long-term physical consequences: The level of female hormones in the blood of an anorectic woman falls drastically, resulting in delayed sexual development. Her heart rate and blood pressure may drop dangerously low, and loss of potassium in the blood may cause irregular heart rhythms. Her muscles atrophy or waste away, resulting in weakness and loss of muscle function. When a young, growing body has to deal with these kind of ongoing physical threats, it can't develop properly.

Brain damage

Starvation can lead to poor brain function, which muddles thinking and makes dealing with the facts that much more of a challenge. Changes in brain structure and function are early signs of the condition, and it affects teens more than others, since the portion affected is the part that's still under development. In some patients, the brain shrinks, which may affect personality and mood. Most of these changes are directly due to starvation, and may be reversed after normal weight is regained.

Just plain discomfort

Dangerous as the disorders may be, they are also uncomfortable. Dehydration causes excessive thirst and constipation, and reduced body fat leads to lowered body temperature and the inability to withstand cold. Anorectics also experience anemia, swollen joints, reduced muscle mass, and lightheadedness. Insomnia and an antsy restlessness can make them feel jittery - and fatigue can mean that daily life is a drag. Troublesome and unpredictable as menstrual periods can be for teen girls, they can become extremely irregular and even disappear due to starvation or overexercise. And that is not a good thing - it's a sign that normal development of their reproductive system is just not happening.

Looking good and feeling good

People get involved in eating disorders because they want to "look good." Here are some of the impacts on appearance from eating disorders. From the effects of bulimia, we see:

Unusual swelling of the cheeks or jaw area - "chipmunk cheeks" - due to salivary-gland damage from vomiting.
Calluses on the back of the hands and knuckles from selfinduced vomiting. Discoloration or staining of the teeth.

In the extreme phase of anorexia, we see:

Emaciated body.
Dry, blotchy skin that has a gray or yellow tone.
Brittle nails and hair.
Limbs often covered with a fine, downy hair called lanugo.

Both starving and vomiting can lead to bad breath. Here's what one girl saw in the mirror after living with an eating disorder for a while: "I was in horrible shape. I had absolutely no color in my face and resembled a ghost. My skin had turned a bizarre yellowish-purple color. My teeth were yellow and rotten from the acid that shot up into my mouth during daily purges. I shook uncontrollably from malnutrition. My hair was falling out in handfuls." People with eating disorders tend to wear layered, loose-fitting clothes in order to conceal the changing shape of their bodies. In addition, their sex hormones may decrease, leading to less interest in intimacy.

Plus, those who starve or purge to lose weight need to take in another surprising fact - eating disorders can actually increase someone's weight. Research shows that a diet is almost guaranteed to lead to a gain in weight, because of the body's natural reaction to deprivation. The "yo-yo" effect can be the body's natural attempt to get back on an even keel. Well, does all this effort at least make a person sexy? All those folks on TV are skinny and attractive. In real life, though, an over-dieting person's sex drive usually goes down.

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