Anorexia

[Warrant34]

What damage does anorexia do to the heart, and can it cause heart disease?

[aka pixi]

I think severe anorexia can lower your potassium levels which can in turn give you irregular heart beat and maybe lead to a heart attack.

[melons]

Anorexia and bullemia are both bad for your whole body.
Including the heart as it lowers the blood flow.

Are you suffering with it? or a friend? not being nosy. x

[Warrant34]

I have a friend who wants help, but I am also doing a health ans social care course myself. Anorexia and heart disease are some of the topics I am stusying. Thanks for your answers.

[melons]

Hope your study goes ok.

Hope your friend also gets the help they need. I had bullimia for a long time, i damaged things that i didnt know i could damage. 5 years later i still suffer with very bad brittle nails and my hair doesnt grow very quick!
i know that it starves your body of the needed sources it needs so i suppose in the end that could also lead to the heart!
Good Luck, Melons

[Roughquest]

Yes - both anorexia and bulimia does indeed damage your heart, and your kidneys! Nutrients are not getting absorbed and therefore leads to dehydration, loss of vital salts and minerals and this in turn makes the heart muscle very weak.

[msemma]

I had anorexia for several years. I have terrible dizzyness, low blood pressure, would faint if I had blood taken and the veins on my arms started to protrude. Nice eh? They were some of the easier side effects to deal with.

[spudqueen]

Karen Carpenter died of a cardiac arrest after suffering from anorexia for many years. http://atdpweb.soe.berkeley.edu/quest/Mind&Bod y/Carpenter.html

[jimmy654]

The effects of Anorexia Nervosa are serious and wide-ranging. Of any known psychiatric disorder Anorexia may have the highest mortality rate. Approximately ten-percent of known diagnosed cases of the disorder eventually die of related causes and complications. The suicide rate of people with anorexia nervosa is higher than that of the general population and is purported to be a major cause of death for those affected by the disorder. Data suggests that less than one-half recover in full, one-third improve their conditions, and twenty percent remain chronically ill.

http://www.eatingdisordersonline.com/explain/a norexiaeffects.php