An 18 year old girl from Kerala, who was surviving on water for 6 months died while undergoing treatment for lack of nutrition basically proper food.
The young girl used to follow online portals for weight loss diet and was later diagnosed with anorexia.
According to Dr Nagesh Manohar Prabhu, a consultant physician at Thalaserry Co-operative Hospital, said that the young girl was brought to the hospital around 12 days ago and upon seeing her condition she was directly admitted to the ICU.
“She was hardly 24 kgs, bedridden. Her sugar levels, sodium, and BP were low. She was out on ventilator support. But her condition did not improve, and she succumbed,” the doctor told news agency ANI. Ideally, an 18 year old girl should weigh 56 kilos.
Prior to this, she was admitted to Kozhikode Medical College Hospital and the doctors had advised her family then to feed her and to get psychiatric consultation. Two weeks back, her blood sugar dropped, and she had breathing issues and was immediately admitted to Thalaserry Co-operative Hospital.
What is anorexia, the eating disorder that killed the Kerala girl?
Anorexia, or anorexia nervosa, is a serious eating disorder characterized by extreme weight loss, intense fear of gaining weight, and a distorted body image. People with anorexia severely restrict their calorie intake, often to dangerous levels, leading to malnutrition and serious health complications.
According to doctors, anorexia is an eating disorder causing people to be obsessed about weight and what they eat. Under this condition, even when people are thin, the person affected thinks they are overweight and will not eat.
According to the family and doctors, the condition persisted for about five to six months.
Anorexia can manifest in both physical and psychological ways, including extreme weight loss or being significantly underweight for age and height, intense fear of weight gain, distorted body image, obsessive calorie counting, excessive exercise, or even fasting for long periods.
Individuals suffering from this avoid meals or lying about food intake to friends and family. In females it can lead to loss of menstrual cycle.
(With inputs from ANI)
