Anorexia nervosa is a psychiatric disorder that causes sick people to look obese and want to lose weight even putting their health at risk. Cannabinoids are great appetite stimulants, so they can benefit those who suffer from this disease.
Anorexia is not a modern disease, although the rhythm of life and the cult of the image of our time may make us believe it. Centuries ago it was concluded that this disorder is very serious and that it involves much more than having extreme thinness.
We know of this disorder that it mainly affects the very young population, but little else. In this article, we want to explain what it means for someone to suffer from anorexia nervosa, what symptoms they present, and how cannabinoids can help improve the condition of those who suffer from this disease.
What is anorexia
Anorexia is considered an eating disorder and involves considerable weight loss due to the patient's starvation. People affected with this disease suffer from dysmorphophobia which leads them to perceive their body with greater weight and volume than they really have, even if they are visibly thin. Patients then begin to diet, first eliminating foods with the highest amount of calories and then stopping eating. In addition, they perform another series of behaviors to lose weight such as inducing vomiting (bulimia), taking laxatives and diuretics, enemas, exercise, etc. This drastic loss of kilos, which leads them to lose up to 50 percent of their weight, causes malnutrition that leads to a series of health problems even leading to death.
The population most affected by this disorder is those between 14 and 18 years old, although it usually begins a little earlier, at age 12. That is, they are young teenagers, especially upper-middle-class women. Adults can also be affected by anorexia, but it is rare.
Weight loss serves sufferers as a mechanism of controlling their life through food. Achieving weight loss is perceived as a triumph that reinforces their self-esteem.
The causes of this disease are diverse, among them: obesity of oneself or of a close relative, a traumatic event such as an accident or the death of a loved one, separation from the parents, or any factor that supposes a drastic change in the life of the adolescent.
To these triggers is added a society that constantly pressures us to have perfect bodies within very rigid parameters and that especially punishes women who do not comply with them. Currently, thinness is the ideal physical pattern so that those who are outside of it have less chances of liking and fitting in. Advertising, fashion, and society, in general, reject obesity and any slight overweight. We are constantly sent messages to keep our body within the ideal weight, which is accompanied by a size that leaves out large sizes.
This is why anorexia is the result of a combination of biological, psychological, and environmental components. Some professions in which the cult of the body is excessive (models, athletes, etc.) usually have high rates of anorexia among their representatives, but this disease can attack anyone.
Symptoms suffered by patients with anorexia
Due to malnutrition, sick people begin to manifest a series of signs that are sometimes difficult to detect but that as the disorder progresses imply a serious deterioration of their health:
- Thinness
- Fatigue and tiredness
- Dizziness and fainting
- The hair becomes thin and brittle and even falls out
- Menstruation is altered or disappears in women
- Low testosterone levels in men
- Constipation, bloating, and digestive problems
- Hypotension
- Extremely dry skin that may turn yellow
- Arrhythmia, heart failure
- Insomnia, anxiety, and depression
- Dehydration and electrolyte abnormalities
- Anemia
- Muscle loss and osteoporosis
When patients are in a high degree of malnutrition all organs of the body suffer from it, this is why it is a serious disease that must be detected and controlled as soon as possible. The difficulty in issuing a quick diagnosis is that people who suffer from it hide their condition from their family and friends, and avoid going to the doctor hindering early detection.
How medical cannabis helps in the treatment of anorexia
Cannabinoids such as THC (tetrahydrocannabinol) and CBD (cannabidiol) act in the body through the endocannabinoid system and its receptors. The endocannabinoid system helps to achieve body balance by regulating functions such as temperature or appetite. This means that cannabinoids contribute to the proper functioning of the endocannabinoid system.
One of the properties that cannabis has is that it causes therapeutic effects that are of great help to alleviate the lack of appetite in patients with HIV or in treatment with chemotherapy. It has been shown that the consumption of cannabinoids manages to regulate the homeostatic processes that interfere with the desire to eat, so it is of great help for people with cachexia.
As a result of knowing the usefulness of THC and CBD in this type of patient, it has been investigated how it can be applied to those suffering from anorexia, since the same brain mechanism of the endocannabinoid system that stimulates appetite would be activated. To this benefit must be added the sedative and relaxing capacity of medical cannabis, which helps to overcome episodes of stress and control anxiety. In addition, depending on the ratio of THC and CBD, we can also experience an improvement in mood in the event that depression is suffered.
In 1981, nabilone, which is synthetic cannabis, began to be commercialized, specifically THC (tetrahydrocannabinol). This drug that was created to treat nausea and vomiting in patients on chemotherapy treatment was later approved for weight loss in people with HIV and anorexia. From 2001 it began to be dispensed.
For some years now, several studies have been carried out to find findings that establish the usefulness of a specific therapeutic administration of cannabis to treat anorexia. The neurobiological mechanisms that act in this disease are very complex so the alteration of the endocannabinoid system in this disease is investigated.
If you suspect that someone in your environment may be suffering from anorexia, it is essential that you try to go to a medical professional. It is very important to detect the disorder as soon as possible so that it is diagnosed and prescribed a treatment that improves your state of health.
In the event that you want to try medical cannabis, it is essential that we communicate it to a doctor and that he gives his approval. Although it is known to everyone that people who smoke cannabis are usually very hungry afterward, it is not as simple as that. Since in sick people the use of medical cannabis must have certain guarantees.
It is a specialist doctor who has to assess whether it is convenient to use it, if the possible adverse effects are acceptable and if medical cannabis interacts negatively with other medicines.
