Appetite in the elderly
From this article you will learn:
A sign of what is poor appetite in an elderly person
What can cause a lack of appetite in an elderly person
What tests will an elderly person have to take to identify the cause of poor appetite
How to increase appetite in an elderly person at home
What to do if an elderly person has an increased appetite
What to consider when planning a diet for an elderly person
Having a good, healthy appetite is a sign that a person is healthy. As a rule, its deterioration is associated with emotional and physical problems. The cause of poor appetite can be many diseases, for example, indigestion. Read below to learn how to improve the appetite of an elderly person.
A sign of what is poor appetite in an elderly person
Lack of appetite in an elderly person can be caused by:
Cardiovascular diseases;
pneumonia, flu, hepatitis, or infection;
Cirrhosis, acute heart failure or chronic renal failure;
Cancer of the stomach, colon, blood;
Inflammation of the alimentary canal, intestines;
Diabetes mellitus, low thyroid hormone levels, endocrine problems;
certain types of dementia;
autoimmune diseases;
Various mental disorders. For example, the appetite of the elderly may be affected by schizophrenia;
Certain medicines. For example, poor appetite in older people can be caused by anesthetics, antibiotics, diabetes medications, or chemotherapy.
The above reasons are not limited to the list of factors causing poor appetite in an elderly person. It should not be forgotten that its deterioration may be associated with bad habits, excessive consumption of fatty foods and sweets. Sometimes it is simply impossible to determine what causes loss of appetite in older people.
What can cause a lack of appetite in an elderly person
If there is no appetite in the elderly, then this is fraught with weight loss, loss of strength, general weakness. Sometimes because of this, all body systems fail. By the way, the worst scenario is a disruption of the brain, because the pensioner does not eat anything, which means that the nutrients and trace elements he needs do not enter the body with food. As you can imagine, poor appetite in older people is a serious problem.
Poor appetite in an elderly person can lead to muscle atrophy, problems with the musculoskeletal system. Anorexia is a common disease that also occurs among the elderly. As a rule, the patient has no complaints, he gradually loses weight, but does not experience hunger. In such difficult situations, poor appetite in an elderly person can be fatal. Only specialists can help the patient. He needs to contact an endocrinologist, a gastroenterologist, a psychotherapist and complain of poor appetite.
What tests will be required
If poor appetite in an older person is causing weight loss, then a specialist should be consulted. As a rule, poor appetite in an elderly person signals the presence of a serious illness. The doctor examines the patient, prescribes tests, finds out the reason for the lack of hunger.
Thanks to a blood test, a specialist will find out what causes poor appetite in an elderly person. For example, we can talk about liver diseases, diabetes, violation of the hormonal functions of the body. A urinalysis is ordered to check if an older person's poor appetite is due to an infection in the kidneys, and a chest x-ray is needed to check for lung cancer, pneumonia.
To find out the cause that causes poor appetite in an elderly person, medical procedures are necessary. This includes a barium enema, a blood test (complete), an ultrasound scan of the abdominal organs, testing of liver function, kidney function, a thyroid gland test, a urinalysis and an x-ray of the upper gastrointestinal tract.
If a poor appetite in an elderly person does not go away, then this is fraught with exhaustion of the body. The appearance of other consequences is determined depending on what disease caused the lack of appetite. For example, if poor appetite in an elderly person is due to diabetes, then this can lead to disruption of the eyes and kidneys.
How to increase appetite in an elderly person at home
If there is no appetite in the elderly, what to do? How to restore a healthy appetite? First of all, you need to understand what is the reason for his absence. For example, a pensioner is worried about nausea. Then the treatment involves the use medicines relieving nausea.
If the patient has dementia, the doctor will prescribe artificial nutrition using a gastrostomy tube or high-calorie nutritional mixtures. If poor appetite in an elderly person is caused by appendicitis, then surgery is indispensable. If the deterioration in appetite is associated with a hormonal failure, then you will need to take special hormone replacement drugs. If the matter is in cancer, then the elderly person will have to undergo chemotherapy, radiation therapy.
How to increase appetite in an elderly person? Take advantage of our tips:
Make sure to include meals, nutritious snacks and protein-rich drinks on the menu to improve appetite in older people.
An effective nutritional supplement containing vitamin B complex - yeast. How to increase appetite in an elderly person? Add green vegetables and zinc-rich foods to your diet.
It is possible to improve appetite in the elderly with the help of herbal infusion, which should be drunk half an hour before meals. Chamomile, dill, lemon balm, peppermint help restore appetite if its loss is associated with emotional and mental problems.
How to increase the appetite of an elderly person with folk remedies
1. Bitterness in food.
The use of wormwood helps to restore appetite. The infusion is consumed in 1 tsp, diluted in 100 ml of water, 30 minutes before meals. The tool will help not only restore appetite in the elderly, but also stimulate the secretion of bile.
2. Chicory before dinner.
Chicory will help restore appetite in the elderly if you drink it 30 minutes before the intended meal. By the way, its use will not affect the level of pressure.
3. Lemon juice for appetite.
Squeeze the juice from half a lemon and add warm water to it. To improve appetite in the elderly, the drink is consumed immediately before meals.
4. Infusion of dandelion root.
In the spring, it is useful to use dandelion leaves. Bitterness should not scare you, because the body needs it. We recommend preparing an infusion from dandelion rhizomes. To do this, pour 2 tsp. crushed roots with cold water (200 ml) and leave to infuse. To improve appetite in the elderly, you need to take an infusion four times a day for ¼ cup.
5. Juice from carrots and watercress.
You can improve the appetite of the elderly with the help of juice from watercress and carrots. Take four carrots and a bunch of press, squeeze the juice out of them and dilute with water in a ratio of 1:1. Take the mixture 30 minutes before meals.
6. Yarrow juice.
Yarrow helps to restore appetite in the elderly. Squeeze the juice out of it and take 1 tsp. 3 times a day.
7. Centaury, angelica, sage, rue.
Mix centaury herb (20 g), medicinal sage (10 g), fragrant rue leaves (20 g), angelica root (10 g). Pour the mixture of herbs with boiling water (600 ml), leave to infuse for 40 minutes, then strain. To improve appetite in the elderly, they need to take a glass of infusion three times a day before meals.
8. Wormwood, willow, yarrow, dandelion.
Take wormwood herb (1 part), white willow bark (half part), dandelion herb (1 part), and yarrow herb (1 part). Pour 1 tbsp. l. mixture with boiling water (400 ml). Let the decoction steep for 30 minutes. To restore appetite in the elderly, it is recommended to take an infusion three times a day, 100 ml 20 minutes before meals.
By the way, faced with the problem associated with the fact that the appetite of the elderly has deteriorated, it is important to remember such a concept as "imaginary anorexia". A sick person refuses to eat, because he believes that he is not given enough attention. Sometimes an elderly person eats food in secret from his relatives.
Increased appetite in the elderly: what to do
Increased appetite in older people can be due to various reasons. Sometimes such a problem occurs as a result of memory impairment, that is, the pensioner simply forgets what he ate twenty minutes ago. In some cases, the feeling of fullness disappears in the elderly as a result of a disease of one of the digestive organs.
Pensioners are prone to worries and worries, which often cause increased appetite in older people. Old people try to relieve their pain and thoughts of problems with food. Sometimes grandparents do not tell their loved ones about their experiences, and to understand that something is wrong, you can only eat if you constantly want to.
Gluttony can also be caused by endocrine factors. The increased appetite of the elderly is sometimes associated with long-term illnesses, metabolic disorders.
If an increased appetite in the elderly leads to obesity, then it is urgent to seek help from a specialist.
6 diet rules for the elderly
1. Food should contain a lot of proteins, trace elements, vitamins, and also be balanced.
Declining health may be due to inadequate protein intake. Patients usually complain of weakness and constant fatigue. If there is not enough protein with food, then organ tissues are damaged and destroyed, the physical functions of the body decrease, and the appetite of the elderly deteriorates.
In order to avoid a deficiency of proteins, calcium and iron, it is necessary to regularly consume a certain amount of meat. Thanks to calcium, the bones become less fragile and their density increases significantly. Iron deficiency is fraught with the development of anemia.
Sometimes an elderly person refuses meat, as it is difficult for him to chew it. In order to restore appetite in the elderly, care must be taken to ensure that the pensioner can easily consume the food served to him. The elderly are advised to eat one meat or fish dish per day. In addition, the liver is also useful if it is consumed no more than once a week. Thanks to milk, fermented milk products, cheese and eggs, you can make up for the deficiency of calcium, vitamins and proteins, restore appetite in the elderly.
The absorption of vitamins in old age decreases by half. This is due to the fact that the appetite of the elderly decreases with age, living conditions worsen, they have to take a large number of drugs.
Vitamin A It has antioxidant properties and provides protection against some forms of cancer. Its large amount is found in fruits and vegetables, animal products, for example, milk, liver, egg yolk. The precursors of vitamin A are beta-carotene and lycopene, which these foods are rich in. Vitamin makes our skin healthy and also helps to improve vision.
Vitamin D promotes good bone function. Most pensioners consume only half of the daily dose of vitamin D. As a rule, an elderly person is rarely in the sun, fresh air. In addition, the ability of the kidney cells to process this vitamin is reduced. It is found in fish of the salmon family, sardine, shrimp. By the way, to improve appetite in the elderly, it is recommended to take dietary supplements.
Vitamin C is water soluble. bell pepper, citrus fruits, broccoli, kiwi, strawberries, tomatoes contain it in large quantities. Its metabolism in the body of a man and a woman proceeds differently. Even if a man receives an equal or greater dose of the vitamin, his blood levels will be less than that of a woman. To restore appetite in the elderly, it is recommended to take ascorbic acid. For men, 150 mg per day, and for women - 75-80 mg.
Vitamin E has antioxidant properties. A large amount of it is found in vegetable oils and margarine.
Vitamin B12. With its deficiency, disorders in the connective tissues appear. In older people, the concentration of hydrochloric acid in the stomach decreases, and because of this, the vitamin cannot be absorbed. To restore appetite in the elderly, it is recommended to take this vitamin in the form of a dietary supplement.
2. Food should contain the amount of calories that will cover the energy costs of an elderly person and keep him in good physical shape.
The older we get, the fewer calories we consume. If a pensioner has an increased or, conversely, poor appetite in older people, then, first of all, you need to take care of proper nutrition that will help restore normal weight. By the way, it is important to remember that both obesity and malnutrition in the elderly, as a rule, are caused by one of the psychological problems. Increased or, conversely, poor appetite in older people may be associated with stress, depression, etc.
3. Food should have a composition that would prevent constipation and dehydration.
The large intestine in the elderly has a meager amount of mucus, which often causes constipation. Of course, this condition also affects appetite. Make sure that the pensioner drinks water, tea, juices, and eats liquid soups. In addition, it is useful to eat boiled or baked vegetables and fruits. This will help to ensure that the appetite of the elderly is gradually restored.
If the elderly drink little liquid, then the full elimination of metabolic products from the body becomes difficult, and the appetite of the elderly worsens. The kidneys are overloaded with work, and in fact, in old age, the number of active nephrons gradually decreases.
To improve appetite in the elderly, you need to take care of regular fluid intake. It is important that the pensioner drank a little, but often. By the way, often older people can not drink cold water and prefer warm. To restore appetite in the elderly, offer them a warm drink.
4. When preparing food, you can and should add a small amount of different spices.
Spices help speed up your metabolism. In addition, they give food a special taste, which increases the appetite of the elderly. Of course, it is important to make sure that the spices you choose will appeal to the pensioner. Otherwise, the effect may be opposite, and the appetite of the elderly will completely disappear.
5. You need to maintain a diet.
To restore appetite in the elderly, we recommend feeding them in certain time. It is best to serve food in small portions several times a day. Prepare for this in advance and think about what an elderly person will have breakfast, lunch, dinner. Sometimes the appetite of the elderly is played out at night, so you can drink a glass of milk or kefir during the second dinner.
6. Do not pressure older people and do not force them to eat.
This statement does not apply to older people who have lost their appetite due to anorexia. But all other pensioners can determine for themselves how much food they need. If grandfather is overcome by depression, his appetite is gone, then you need to serve him light and tasty food. Feed him small portions, but often. Respect your relative's preferences. Appetite in the elderly does not need to be controlled unless there is a good reason for it. Don't argue with him if he refuses a dish. Otherwise, the appetite of the elderly will always be poor.
Since most people do not naturally meet this standard, they try to become more beautiful in many ways, and not always in a healthy way. Teas and diet pills, diets, intense physical activity - this can start the path not only to greater attractiveness, but also to anorexia.
Anorexia is an eating disorder and, more importantly, a psychiatric disorder characterized by an increased focus on food and body weight, and extreme food restrictions. Anorexics are very afraid of getting fat, and sometimes they are able to literally starve themselves to death. Most often, this disease affects young girls - it is they who are most exposed to the effects of modern media products. They lose weight very much - often their weight is 15% below normal. But no matter how thin they become, no matter how bad they feel, even when they are on the verge of death, they continue to consider themselves too fat and still follow their diet.
Determining the exact causes of anorexia is difficult, but it is most likely that it is caused by many factors, including the patient's psychological problems and the influence of popular culture.
Symptoms
Severe weight loss is the most obvious symptom of anorexia, which, however, becomes noticeable when the body is already close to exhaustion. In the early stages, anorexia can be detected by the fact that a person began to eat less than usual, often refuses to eat, referring to the fact that he just ate or his stomach hurts. At the same time, he can talk a lot about food, about calories and diets, and even cook with pleasure. In general, food becomes a favorite topic of conversation for an anorexic; just as much it occupies his thoughts.
When the disease progresses, the anorexic constantly feels weak, gets tired quickly, sometimes faints. Dull, brittle hair, puffy face, sunken eyes, bluish skin color on the arms and legs (due to poor blood circulation) are also common symptoms of anorexia. In women, due to exhaustion, menstruation may stop. A patient with anorexia is constantly cold, as the body does not have enough energy to warm up. A layer of thin hair appears all over the body - with their help, the patient's body tries to keep warm. Then osteoporosis develops, digestion processes are disturbed, malfunctions of the heart and central nervous system may occur.
Treatment
Anorexia usually takes at least 5 years to heal. This is a difficult process that requires the patient to be very involved and willing to overcome the disease. More than 60% of patients starting treatment for anorexia return to a healthy lifestyle. Another 20% recover almost completely, but in order to avoid relapses, they need regular examinations and additional courses of therapy.
At the first stage of treatment, the physical health of the patient is restored. Sometimes patients are hospitalized in a very serious condition, and they need not only food through a dropper, but also treatment for complications of anorexia, often very dangerous. When the patient's condition stabilizes, he is gradually accustomed to a normal diet, helping him to return to a healthy weight.
Then a course of psychotherapy begins, during which the patient and the doctor together look for the causes of the disease and ways to overcome it. Cognitive behavioral therapy is usually used to help the patient get rid of a distorted image of their own body.
Sometimes the patient is prescribed antidepressants. They help to cope with anxiety and some other problems, but they should be taken as briefly as possible.
Statistics
- Anorexia is the third most common chronic disease in adolescents.
- The average age at which eating disorders begin today is 11-13 years old.
- About 80% of women in many surveys said they want to lose weight
- 50% of girls between the ages of 13 and 15 believe they have excess weight
- 80% of 13-year-old girls have at least once been on a diet or tried to lose weight in other ways
- 20% of people who suffer from anorexia and will not get timely treatment, will die
- Anorexia has the highest mortality rate among mental disorders
- Only 1 in 10 people with some form of eating disorder receive adequate treatment
- 1-5% of girls and young women suffer from anorexia
What you need to know about anorexia
- There is no one to blame for anorexia. Anorexia does not mean that the parents raised their child incorrectly. Cultural, genetic and personal factors interact closely with life events, which creates fertile ground for the emergence and development of psychological eating disorders.
- There is nothing pleasant about anocresia. Many people who follow debilitating diets recklessly declare that they dream of becoming ill with anorexia. They see only the obvious manifestation of this disease - excessive thinness, but do not notice the danger of this "fashionable" disease. Patients with anorexia are by no means proud of their ideal figure and do not feel unimaginably beautiful; if you talk to such a person, you will learn a lot about him - for example, that a girl who weighs 55 kilograms and is 180 meters tall considers herself fat, unattractive and unstylish. Patients with anorexia suffer from a never-ending sense of their own imperfection, they are frightened and cornered by their fears.
- You can’t get rid of anorexia just like that, this is not a disease that reminds of itself once a month. The consciousness of patients with anorexia does not belong to them, they cannot control their feelings. Such people are literally obsessed with thoughts about weight, food, extra calories and body image. Many suffer from the disease even in their sleep - they are haunted by nightmares, obsessive dreams about food and nutrition. And in a dream, poor sufferers and sufferers continue to count calories and be horrified by 100 gained grams. Anorexia is a terrible disease that pulls its victim out of normal life and dooms her to loneliness. Anorexia is very difficult to cure. Sometimes it takes years to fight it.
- Anorexia can be fatal. By the way, anorexia has the highest mortality rate among psychological diseases. If you or someone you know is experiencing symptoms of an eating disorder, act quickly - seek medical advice.
Specific symptoms of anorexia
The patient with anorexia is primarily distinguished by the unwillingness to maintain a weight corresponding to his constitution, age and height. To be precise, the normal weight of a person should be 85% or less of the weight that is considered standard for a person of this build, age and height.
As a rule, the victim of anorexia constantly feels an unrelenting fear of getting better and gaining excess weight, and this fear completely overrides all other feelings and emotions. This fear does not take into account the real weight of a person, and does not let go of its victim even when she is on the verge of death from exhaustion. First of all, the causes of anorexia lie in low self-esteem, which is also one of the main symptoms of this serious illness. A patient with anorexia believes that his weight, figure parameters and size are directly related to self-awareness and personal status. Victims of anorexia often deny the seriousness of their condition and cannot objectively assess their own weight.
Another symptom characteristic of women is the absence of at least three periods in a row. In particular, a woman is diagnosed with amenorrhea (absence of menstruation) if her period begins only after hormonal therapy (for example, estrogen administration).
Types of behavior in anorexia
There are two types of behavior in anorexia nervosa
- Restrictive - the patient voluntarily restricts food intake and does not eat to satiety, and then provokes vomiting.
- Cleansing - the patient overeats, and then provokes vomiting or abuses laxatives, diuretics or enemas.
Unlike depression or panic attacks, anorexia nervosa is difficult to treat. There is no universal and effective cure for anorexia. First of all, doctors prescribe general medicines that are used to treat any health problem, such as electrolysis abnormalities or heart rhythm disturbances.
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Treatment of anorexia is a combination of psychological, medical and therapeutic measures aimed at ridding the patient of a severe mental disorder, which, without proper therapy, can lead to the death of the patient.
What is this disease and what methods of its treatment exist? What type of therapy is most effective? Is it possible to defeat the disease on your own at home? The answers to these and other questions can be found by reading the following article.
Anorexia and its varieties
- This is a severe disorder of the human psyche, characterized by a complete or partial refusal to eat, caused by various reasons. Literally, the term means "no appetite." Speaking about this disease, it is often anorexia nervosa that is meant, which is characterized by purposeful and deliberate weight loss below the permissible norm, caused by dissatisfaction with one's own body, the desire to get closer to world standards of beauty or an ideal created in thoughts.
But there are other types of this disease that occur under the influence of certain factors on a person: mental, symptomatic and drug anorexia, primary and secondary, true and false, neurogenic, atypical and senile.
Anorexia is diagnosed in children, adolescents, men, girls and women.
There are several stages in the development of this disease. At the initial stages, with timely qualified treatment, patients almost always recover; at the last stages, a person usually dies due to the irreversibility of the processes occurring in the body, severe exhaustion and degeneration of internal organs that are unable to fully perform their functions.
Therefore, it is extremely important to diagnose this disease in a close and dear person in time in order to provide him with timely medical care, take the necessary measures to treat such a mental disorder and put all his strength into his recovery.
In addition, anorexia is considered a recurrent disease, that is, getting rid of it does not give any guarantee that it will not reappear. In order to protect your loved ones from relapse, you must follow preventive measures and closely monitor changes in the behavior of a loved one.
Treatment of anorexia nervosa
Usually, the treatment of this disease is complex, the main purpose of which is to identify the causes that provoked the development of anorexia and their eradication. The factors that caused the appearance of the disease can be both physiological and psychological. Based on this, the doctor will build the most appropriate therapy for each individual patient.
Treatment of anorexia in most cases does not require hospitalization, therapeutic methods can be performed on an outpatient basis. However, it is extremely important before starting to make sure that the patient really wants to be cured, is aware of the gravity of his situation and does not deny the fact that he has a serious problem. Otherwise, a full recovery should not be expected. Such treatment will only draw all the juices and money out of you, and will not bring the desired result.
Treatment for anorexia includes:
- drug treatment;
- therapeutic diet food.
If the disease has developed against the background of any physiological diseases, then for high-quality treatment it is necessary to first get rid of the physical disease, and then treat its consequences. For this, various pills and medications are usually used, which will be aimed at eliminating the cause that provoked the onset of anorexia.
The psychological causes, against which the disease developed, are eliminated with the help of psychotherapeutic methods. Such treatment is aimed at changing the patient's lifestyle, a positive perception of himself, increasing self-esteem, forming an adequate attitude to food, to the people around him, setting new goals and priorities.
In the early stages of detecting this disease, its treatment can be limited only to psychotherapeutic methods. But if the disease has already entered an advanced stage, then complex treatment by various methods will be needed:
- drug therapy aimed at restoring damaged internal organs and body systems;
- treatment with drugs for weight gain: vitamin and mineral complexes, antidepressants, sedatives and antihistamines, as well as anorexia pills;
- psychotherapeutic impact;
- medical diet.
The best treatment for anorexia is a combination of therapeutic treatment, family therapy, psychotherapy and drug restoration of destroyed organs and systems.
When may you need hospitalization for anorexia:
- despite treatment, body weight continues to decline;
- BMI (body mass index) is thirty percent below the established norm;
- arrhythmia and bradycardia;
- with suicidal ideation;
- hypokalemia;
- significantly reduced blood pressure.
Psychotherapeutic methods of treatment of anorexia
One of the psychotherapeutic methods of influencing a patient with anorexia is a change in lifestyle. This aspect includes:
- regular meals and promotion of healthy eating;
- planning a dietary menu and drawing up a treatment plan;
- visiting or support groups to relieve emotional stress and stress;
- decline physical activity until the moment when the doctor allows a complex of medical procedures after stabilization and normalization of weight;
- refusal to constantly weigh.
The support of relatives and friends during this period is extremely important, therefore, family psychotherapy is very common, especially for the treatment of adolescent patients.
Medical treatments for anorexia
It is very important at the stage of treatment of this disease not only to get rid of the internal psychological causes of its occurrence, but also to restore normal weight, normalize nutrition, and saturate the body with various useful substances.
It is also necessary to attend to the restoration of internal organs and systems destroyed by the disease, which is typical for the later stages of anorexia. In all these cases, treatment is used using various medications.
In a hospital, droppers are often used to restore the body's water and electrolyte balance. At home, various medicines containing vitamins and useful and. Often this is, especially, as well as preparations containing, and.
Typically, antidepressants and neuroleptics, as well as sedatives and antihistamines, are prescribed to treat such a severe mental disorder.
Often, in the treatment of anorexia, drugs are prescribed that improve appetite, help restore and normalize metabolism and body weight.
Of the antihistamines, cyproheptadine is usually prescribed, which stimulates appetite. Also, drugs for anorexia that affect the increase in appetite are frenolon, elenium and others.
Taking antidepressants and antipsychotics will help get rid of the depressive conditions that often accompany this disease. But they should also be used in complex therapy, which includes consultations with a psychologist and. The list of banned antidepressants includes fluoxetine, a drug that many patients use to reduce appetite, thereby provoking the development and progression of anorexia.
Therapeutic nutrition for anorexia and dietary supplements
Restoring normal weight is not in a hurry, in general, the way out of anorexia is quite long and painstaking. It is necessary to start normalizing and stabilizing the patient's weight only when he has already undergone a short course of psychotherapy and eating will not become something out of the ordinary for him.
They usually start with a small amount of calories, which gradually increase to 2000-3500 calories per day.
Sometimes parenteral or intravenous nutrition is used, but only when the patient cannot eat food for various reasons: muscle weakness, heart rhythm disturbances, seizures, bleeding from the mouth, coma.
The lack of vitamins and minerals also negatively affects the health of the patient. Therefore, it is advisable to use nutritional supplements that will restore the balance of nutrients in the body:
- multivitamin complexes containing and, ascorbic acid, as well as trace elements which contain, calcium, and;
- , in large quantities contained in fatty varieties of fish, such as or, as well as in;
- coenzyme Q-10;
- 5-HTP or 5-hydroxytryptophan, which should not be taken concomitantly with antidepressants;
- creatine;
- , lacto- and bifidobacteria, acidophilus.
In therapeutic dietary nutrition in the treatment of anorexia, it is worth adhering to some rules:
- Do not drink alcohol, nicotine and.
- Drink a large amount of refined or mineral per day, approximately 1.5-2 liters.
- Protein food should only be of high quality. As a source, it is best to use natural ingredients: eggs, meat, dairy products, protein and vegetable shakes. However, it is worth knowing that protein foods should not be introduced at the initial stages, but gradually, since it is considered difficult for the body.
- Eliminate refined sugars from your daily diet: sweet soda, sweets, and so on.
Treatment of anorexia at home
Often, anorexia is treated on an outpatient basis, at home. Such therapy includes:
- support of relatives and friends;
- diet food;
- medicinal preparations;
- folk remedies.
At the initial stage, such a set of measures will quickly save the victim from this terrible disease.
Psychological family assistance consists in regular communication with the patient, helping him to realize the severity of the problem and thereby help in a speedy recovery. Relatives, like no other, will contribute to understanding how to overcome the disease, they will make you feel that he is not alone and that he can always find support in them. It is in their power to find activities for the patient that will help not think about controlling body weight. And all this will happen under their sensitive and vigilant control of his eating behavior: checking the regularity of eating food, her.
For a complete cure, it is necessary that all metabolic processes in the body are restored, and a balanced therapeutic diet will help in this.
Traditional medicine can also help with such a disease. The use of various decoctions of herbs, infusions of dandelion roots, nettle leaves and fruits helps to stimulate appetite, stabilize the nervous system and relax.
Different types of therapy for anorexia
most popular and effective method in the treatment of this disease is cognitive behavioral therapy. Its goal is to replace distorted and negative beliefs with real and positive thoughts. This treatment method helps to overcome your fears and set new goals in life.
Other types of therapy include:
- Family therapy, which is aimed primarily at helping parents and loved ones of a sick person in realizing the seriousness of the problem and finding ways to overcome it, as well as providing support to the patient on the path to recovery.
- The Maudsley method is one of the varieties of family therapy, suitable primarily for the therapy of adolescents and young people, which consists in the complete control of the patient's normal restorative nutrition by the parents.
- Hypnosis, which helps to get rid of depression and stress, return to good nutrition, increase one's self-esteem and a positive attitude towards oneself.
Anorexia and pregnancy
After complete recovery, the level of sex hormones in the body stabilizes and the menstrual cycle returns. But in the last stages of the disease, this process is irreversible.
This disease carries risks for pregnant women, or those who are trying to conceive a child. Often this affects the condition of the fetus: the child is born very premature and with birth defects.
Complications and prevention of anorexia
With anorexia, the likelihood of the following complications is high:
- arrhythmia and heart failure;
- anemia, hypokalemia, osteoporosis;
- level up ;
- hormonal failure leading to amenorrhea, infertility and growth retardation;
- dehydration and swelling of the limbs;
- malfunctions of the thyroid gland;
- exhaustion of the body, caries, impaired mental processes;
- fatal outcome.
Forced vomiting leads to:
- prolapse of the rectum;
- rupture of the esophagus;
- weakening of the rectal walls;
- swallowing problems.
It is difficult to predict recovery from such a disease, since in each individual case this leads to various consequences. Most often, the rehabilitation period takes from four to seven years. And about twenty-five percent of those who get sick never fully recover. In addition, there is always the possibility of a relapse, even in those people who have recovered from anorexia.
In severe stages, this disease leads to death from dystrophy of internal organs and suicide.
A healthy and positive family environment is essential to prevent relapse. Relatives and friends should not focus on food, weight problems and ideal forms. It is best to devote lunch hours to relaxation and family joys.
Finally
A disease such as anorexia requires long-term and serious treatment. The most effective in this case will be complex therapy with the use of psychotherapeutic, drug and folk methods treatment, as well as dietary nutrition. Prevention of the disease is reduced to the prevention of possible relapses and constant monitoring of the patient who has been ill.
For a long time in society there has been a struggle with anorexia - a mental disorder in which a person, in an effort to lose "extra" kilograms, refuses to eat and brings himself to exhaustion. Often patients with anorexia cross the line and find themselves on the verge of death. It is extremely difficult to get out of this condition without medical help.
But such a disorder has always been associated with young people, their desire to be slimmer, look better. However, scientists have raised the issue of senile anorexia, when older people suddenly lose their appetite and begin to lose weight rapidly for no apparent reason, weakening and falling into apathy. At the same time, the general medical examination shows that their body is completely healthy.
Scientists from the University of Plymouth in the UK have taken to find out what's the matter. They did not rely on the mental state of the elderly, but on their hormonal levels. It was suggested that after the age of 80, the body dramatically increases the production of the peptide hormone YY, which is responsible for the feeling of satiety. This means that older people fill up much faster, while eating less food, they do not have such a feeling of hunger as young people.
To test this hypothesis, a group of 6 healthy women aged 82-85 years, who regularly measured the YY hormone and additionally the hormone ghrelin after breakfast and before lunch. At the same time, similar studies were carried out with several more groups of people - 20-30 years of age, 40-50 years of age and 60-70 years of age. As a result, it became clear that scientists from the University of Plymouth are absolutely right: old people have a sharp decrease in appetite due to increased levels of certain hormones, which threatens malnutrition and protein-energy imbalance.
So senile anorexia does exist, but it is the result of biological changes in the body, and not a mental state. However, this condition is just as dangerous as it is at a young age.
It has not yet been learned to control appetite in older people over 80 years of age by influencing the level of peptide hormone, however, gerodietics - the science of proper nutrition in old age - gives evidence-based recommendations, which will help reduce the negative impact of the physiologically natural processes of aging of the body on the general condition of the older age group.
Senile cachexia.
Weight loss in old age is accompanied by higher morbidity and is unfavorable in terms of mortality (Liu L. et al, 2002). It has been established that with age, the production of cytokines in the body increases, the concentration of receptor antagonists to TNF-a, IL-1 and IL-6 and the soluble TNF receptor increases in the blood, the level of acute-phase proteins, such as C-reactive protein and serum amyloid A, which convinces the activation of the entire inflammatory cascade (Morley JE
Rice. 6.9. Mechanisms of development of senile cachexia
A decrease in body weight in old age can also be due to a decrease in the intake of energy substrates into the body, associated with age, reduced gastric motility and extensibility of its body, which leads to a violation of the adaptive relaxation of the organ and an early onset of a feeling of satiety due to the rapid movement of food masses into the antrum. . Other factors influencing early satiety are the increased effect of cholecystokinin on satiety and the elevated amylin concentration noted in the elderly (Morley J.E. et al., 2006). Anorexia may result from hyperleptinemia in hypogonadal men and menopausal women (Larsson H. et al., 1998).
The development of senile cachexia is also facilitated by developing anorexia, a key factor in the occurrence of which is considered to be a decrease in the central nervous system nitric oxide synthase concentrations (Morley J.E., Flood J.F., 1991; Morley J.E. et al, 1996).
Anorexia puts the elderly at risk for developing cachexia, even with mild illness. Taste perversion, dental and gum disease, chronic pain, and social isolation are also risk factors for cachexia in old age.
Retired women are at risk for anorexia
Anorexia has traditionally been associated with teenagers and young adults, but the eating disorder is now more common in women. retirement age. They, too, feel the pressure of the cult of thinness.
Until the age of 54, Englishwoman Margaret Bradley (pictured) never bothered with diets. The naturally slender mother-of-two simply preferred healthy food and regular visits to the gym. This made me look 10 years younger than my age. But at 54, Margaret suddenly decided that with age she would soon lose her thin figure. And I decided after Christmas to lose a few kilograms, so as not to worry later.
She limited her calories to 1,250 per day, and when this did not give a quick effect, then to 1,000 (half the recommended amount for women). A year later, despite rapid weight loss, the woman continued to lose weight, eating only salads and vegetables. The desire to be even more slender turned out to be stronger than common sense. Ultimately, this led to anorexia.
Over the past 11 years, the incidence of anorexia among women has increased by 42%. In the minds of most people, novice models, high school students and girls of 25-30 years old are anorexic. But according to statistics, 78% of deaths from anorexia accounted for by women with an average age of 69!
For older ladies, the impact of this eating disorder on the body is much more dangerous than for teenagers. Protective forces weaken by this age, chronic diseases appear, age-related changes in the work of the heart and other important organs. So such severe stress as anorexia often leads to death.
Margaret Bradley was forced to leave her job due to poor health. Now she does not even have the opportunity to sit with her grandchildren - she is prevented by constant weakness. She was recently hospitalized for two weeks to receive intravenous feeding. Today she is undergoing intensive treatment for anorexia. The doctor told her that before her death, Margaret did not have time to lose only 2-3 kilograms.
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Depression in old age
Unfortunately, at present, the vast majority of elderly people suffering from depressive disorders do not come to the attention of psychiatrists, including geriatric psychiatrists, do not receive specialized assistance, which leads to a prolongation, aggravation of the disease, up to suicide. I hope this article will help you figure out what is happening with your loved ones or with you, navigate the situation and resolve it in the best way.
At the beginning of the disease, patients are disturbed by a depressed mood, they are gloomy, insomnia is noted. In the future, anxiety phenomena with motor restlessness and ideational excitement increase, various forms of depressive delusions develop - condemnation, punishment, death, hypochondriacal and suicidal ideas.
Distinctive features of depressive disorder in the elderly:
After the end of the depressive episode, patients show residual mood disturbances, either in the form of a persistent decrease in the background, or in the form of periodic recessions. These disorders are combined with individual somatovegetative manifestations of depression (sleep and appetite disorders).
Late depression is characterized by the development of a phenomenon called "double depression", when repeated outlined depressive phases occur against the background of a persistent decrease in mood.
Symptoms of depression in old age
The complaints of patients are usually dominated by general depression, gloomy thoughts, anxiety, physical decline, sleep disorders, autonomic disorders in the form of diffuse pathological sensations or painful disorders of the functions of individual organs. When observing the patient, there is a small expressiveness of facial expressions, a lack of liveliness, a look that reflects impotence and fatigue, a monotonous muffled voice and anxious anxiety.
Depression in the elderly can be "blinded" by somatic complaints. Such patients fix their attention on the somatic manifestations of the depressive syndrome - loss of appetite, constipation, weight loss, fatigue, headaches, pain in the back and other parts of the body, etc. At the same time, they can deny or sharply underestimate the degree of severity of affective disorders proper.
Causes of depression in old age
When describing the psychological situation, the significance of such problems that arise in old age as "confrontation with approaching death", "loss of prospects", "tension and friction with the new generation" is usually emphasized. With the loss of a loved one, the usual way of life, the established order in relationships, is sharply violated. Widowhood without remarriage in old age is associated with a high risk of developing loneliness and, as a consequence, this depressive disorder. An increase in stress load due to the unfavorable socio-economic conditions of the “epoch of reforms”, which primarily affected the elderly, as well as due to a violation of their worldview, lead to social maladaptation. Depressive conditions also develop as a result of the dismissal of older people from work (“pension depression”). They are accompanied by painful experiences of uselessness, lack of demand, while maintaining the need for further professional and social self-actualization. Attempts to belittle and belittle the role of veterans of the Great Patriotic War and home front workers, the significance of their military and labor exploits and efforts inflict moral trauma on them. There is also evidence of the pathogenic effect of changing housing. This situation causes a special type of depression - “depression of moving”. In addition, depressive states in the elderly are often provoked by events such as intra-family conflicts.
Prevention of depression in the elderly
The mental health of the elderly is improved with varying degrees of effectiveness by different types of interventions:
Diagnosis of depression in the elderly
Factors to consider in diagnosis depression in the elderly:
Altered symptoms of depression in later life:
- There are practically no complaints of sadness and despondency.
- Hypochondriacal and somatic complaints instead of complaints of sadness and despondency.
- Complaints of poor memory or a clinical picture resembling dementia.
- Late appearance of neurotic symptoms (severe anxiety, obsessive-compulsive or hysterical symptoms).
- Apathy and low motivation.
- Anorexia.
- Decrease in body weight.
- Decrease in energy.
- Beta blockers.
- Methyl dopa.
- Calcium channel blockers (eg nifedipine).
- Digoxin.
- Codeine.
- Opioids.
- COX-2 inhibitors (eg celecoxib, rofecoxib).
- Antipsychotic drugs.
- Benzodiazepines
Symptoms that are difficult to interpret due to a concomitant physical illness:
Causes of depressive episodes of organic origin:
Medicines that can cause organic depression:
Medicines indicated for parkinsonism:
Psychotropic drugs (may cause a clinical picture resembling depression):
Somatic disorders that can serve as an organic cause depression in the elderly:
Endocrine and metabolic:
- Hypo and hyperthyroidism
- Cushing's syndrome
- Hypercalcemia (primary hyperparathyroidism or carcinoma)
- pernicious anemia
- folic acid deficiency
- Vascular disease / stroke.
- Tumors of the central nervous system.
- Parkinson's disease.
- Alzheimer's disease .
- Neurosyphilis.
- Brucellosis.
- Shingles.
Organic brain damage:
Chronic infectious diseases:
Treating depression in the elderly
Elderly patients suffering from depression rarely offer psychological treatments. However, in major depressive disorder, the combination of antidepressants and psychotherapy is more effective than either alone, especially in preventing relapse.
Of the drugs, almost the entire modern arsenal of antidepressants is used, including well-known tricyclic and tetracyclic antidepressants, as well as antidepressants of the "new generation" - selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors and reversible MAO-A inhibitors. However, when prescribing certain psychopharmacological agents to an elderly patient, one should always keep in mind the increased risk of side effects and complications, especially since complications at a later age are particularly severe. In these cases, it is possible to correct therapy by changing doses, changing drugs and changing the general treatment regimen.
From psychotherapeutic methods, cognitive-behavioral therapy and interpersonal psychotherapy are used.
Electroconvulsive therapy remains the most effective and affordable treatment for severe depression, and is usually used when life is threatened due to malnutrition or suicidal behavior, or when antidepressants fail.
fatal anorexia
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Anorexia nervosa (from Latin: nervosus - nervous, nervous; Greek: anorexis - lack of appetite, desire to eat) - progressive self-restriction in food due to a violation of the perception of one's body while maintaining appetite in order to lose weight due to the belief in excessive fullness and fear of becoming fat .
The desire to lose weight a lot - the norm or the disease?
In January 2012, the American Fashion Council prohibited agencies in the United States from hiring anorexic models. In 2006, a similar ban was made in Milan - Italian agencies were forbidden to cooperate with fashion models whose body index is below 18.5. The reason is simple - the anorexia epidemic hit the modeling business. And not only him!
The 28-year-old French model Isabelle Caro died of this disease (the photo shoot with her became a symbol of the fight against catastrophic weight loss), the 34-year-old Israeli model Ilanit Elimelech, the 21-year-old Brazilian Anna Carolina Reston, the 38-year-old male model, handsome Jeremy Glitzer and many thousands of start-up "stars" of the modeling business suffered.
According to statistics, 0.7-1% of the population suffers from eating disorders, 6% of patients with anorexia die from an obsessive desire to lose weight, and about the same number commit suicide. Most patients are girls 13-20 years old, adult women and boys are less likely to suffer. In older people, anorexia is an alarming symptom, meaning latent depression or dementia.
resounding horror
So what is this disease? Under the sonorous Latin name hides a whole range of problems. Anorexia is the unwillingness of the body to eat. A person loses his appetite, he tries to eat as little as possible, food ceases to be digested normally, causes vomiting or indigestion. There are many reasons for this disorder. In an infant, anorexia can be the result of severe stomatitis, cleft lip, cleft palate, esophageal hernia, etc. - it hurts and is uncomfortable to eat, so he refuses food. In adults, common medical causes of anorexia are tumors of the brain, stomach, blood cancer, thyroid dysfunction, schizophrenia, dementia. But also the desire to eat and the ability to assimilate food disappear with exhaustion, from long starvation, poor food. So, after the blockade of Leningrad was lifted and the prisoners of concentration camps were liberated, many victims of starvation died because help came too late - the body's reserves were exhausted and it was not possible to restore them.
Neuropsychic anorexia, which, in fact, the dead models suffered from, is a disease of a dual nature. First, a person obsessed with an obsessive desire to lose weight restricts himself in food and leads to exhaustion, and then biology comes into play. Long fasting provokes an electrolyte imbalance, a lack of potassium leads to heart problems, the gastrointestinal tract suffers, and the hormonal balance “flies”. In women suffering from anorexia, menstruation stops, in men, potency decreases or disappears.
A life – on the altar of beauty!
Almost all teenagers experience dissatisfaction with their appearance from time to time. For most, this goes away, like other problems of adolescence. For some, especially girls, this turns into dysmorphophobia - an obsessive belief in one's own unattractiveness. Yes, and how to feel beautiful when you (oh, horror!) As much as 50 kilograms, and such slender popular models and TV personalities look from the pages of magazines? Inappropriate comments from parents, ridicule from classmates, or an unsuccessful first romance add fuel to the fire - and the girl begins to lose weight.
At first, everything looks harmless - food restrictions, exercise, a sparkle in the eyes at the sight of the treasured numbers on the scales. But quickly enough, losing weight from a means turns into a goal. An obsessive-compulsive disorder begins, the patient with anorexia is no longer able to perceive reality adequately. No matter how much she weighs, she is sure that she is still “fat and terrible” - that she will lose another five kilos and become a princess. The girl does not notice dull, split ends, damaged hair, fallen mammary glands, dry, inflamed skin, hair and bad breath - it seems to her that thinness outweighs all these shortcomings.
Sometimes a healthy organism takes its toll for a while and a starving one pounces on food ... in order to retire in a toilet a few minutes later, induce vomiting and get rid of the hated food! In the same way, anorexics act when parents or doctors try to force them to "eat like a human being."
It is useless to talk to a person in such a state, to convince him is the same as to convince a schizophrenic that he is not Napoleon, but Vasya Pupkin. When trying to intervene, the patient will pretend to eat, but in fact feed food to a dog or cat, quietly drop it or hide it in her room, then to throw it away. All this indicates an addiction akin to a drug or adrenaline. Obsessive "weight loss" - form psychological protection, escape from reality - so a person with a neurosis of cleanliness to bloody calluses washes his hands. Sooner or later, the body breaks down.
We make a diagnosis
The only way to completely cure anorexia is to take the patient out of the traumatic situation, to find, identify and eliminate the true cause of the disorder. In most cases, the disease is accompanied by overt or covert depression, suicidal tendencies, a severe inferiority complex, sometimes it is the result of domestic violence or an unsuccessful first experience in sex, an attempt to attract the attention of loved ones, a reaction to divorce or the death of parents.
It is very important to identify the disease in time and seek help as soon as possible, before the body begins to suffer, and the pathological dependence has not yet been formed. A person has anorexia if they:
- lost more than 20% of weight in six months;
- looks emaciated, with sunken cheeks, protruding ribs;
- with dull hair and skin that began to decay teeth;
- in girls - menstruation has stopped, breasts have greatly decreased;
- always preoccupied with his overweight, becomes painfully aroused when talking about this topic;
- does not eat with everyone or puts himself extremely small portions, while persuading others to eat;
- all the time he uses weight loss and diuretic teas, drinks, puts enemas, rinses the stomach;
- weighed several times a day and falls into despair, recovering by several hundred grams;
- Constantly cold, complains of weakness, headache, stomach problems, constipation;
- experiencing bouts of gluttony, followed by depression and guilt;
- after eating, locks himself in the bathroom or toilet to induce vomiting;
- with all this, I am sure that he is absolutely healthy, looks great, and he has no problems;
Six or more items from the list prove that a person is seriously ill, you need to see a doctor. Three or more - the problem is already on the way.
Reconnecting with the body
In the acute phase of anorexia, when the patient's weight reaches 40, 30 or less kilograms, medical care is indispensable. Sadly, in most cases, hospitalization is necessary for complex treatment- intravenous nutrition, special diet, psychiatric and psychological help. True, not all relatives agree to this. In June of this year, in England, the Welsh authorities passed a law allowing the feeding of violently anorexic patients. However, the relatives of a 32-year-old woman who, according to this law, was placed in a hospice and started nursing, protested the treatment in court - in their opinion, she voluntarily chose her fate and has the right to die peacefully.
Relatives of patients should know that it is useless to "imperceptibly" feed them, convince them, persuade them to eat something - this will only cause aggression, irritation and the desire to deceive annoying relatives and friends. The only thing that can be done (naturally, in parallel with psychological and medical assistance) is to distract the anorexic, switch consciousness and reconfigure the body.
Try to find an activity that would interest the losing weight and at the same time require a fair amount of effort from him - for example, swimming, cycling, horseback riding, dancing. Offer him exotic entertainment - a trip to India or Siberia, mountain hiking, parachuting, water skiing. Getting adrenaline from exercise or extreme sports, an anorexic has every chance to escape from the disease and get out of a traumatic situation unnoticed by himself.
It is possible to influence the patient's mind only at moments of enlightenment, when a person is able to adequately assess his condition and the degree of destruction of the body. Try to convey that the disease already exists and needs to be treated.
Very useful in such cases are body-oriented therapy, contact improvisation, regular massage and other techniques that restore connection with one's own body. And most importantly - let the patient have enough attention and love, let him be able to believe that he is attractive, valuable and important to his loved ones.
Today I will tell you why it disappears and how to increase appetite in an adult and an elderly person. Anorexia in adults and senile people is manifested by a complete lack of appetite. Often occurs at the age of 75-80 years. Occurs suddenly. The old man says that nothing hurts him, he is not upset by anything, his sleep is normal, there was no unrest, but he does not want to eat.
What causes lack of appetite
If it is not possible to immediately eliminate anorexia, in the future it is very difficult, and sometimes impossible, to do so. There is weakness, apathy, dizziness. The gait becomes unsteady, exhaustion develops, and death occurs.
How to treat
Of the drugs, you need to take tonics such as tincture of aralia, zamaniha, eleutherococcus, leuzea, Chinese magnolia vine.
Bitterness in food
Wormwood stimulates the appetite very well. Infusion of wormwood give a teaspoon to half a glass of warm water half an hour before meals. In the same way, you can give an infusion of dandelion root.
Chicory before dinner
A mug of chicory perfectly whets the appetite, drunk half an hour before dinner. Chicory does not increase blood pressure, so you can drink it without age restrictions.
In addition to enhancing the secretion of the stomach, bitterness also stimulates the secretion of bile, which is also extremely important, especially in the elderly.
Lemon juice for appetite in the elderly
Appetizing teas
Imaginary refusal of food
But also be aware of the possibility of imaginary anorexia, when patients who believe that they are not being given due attention defiantly refuse to eat. Most often it happens in men 70-80 years old, and they can eat food in secret.
