Anorexia Nervosa Essays (1340 words) - Eating Disorders, Psychiatry

Anorexia Nervosa Anorexia Nervosa In America, girls are given the message at a very young age that in order to be happy and successful, they must be thin. Given the value which society places on being thin, it is not surprising that eating disorders are on the increase. Every time you walk into a store, you are surrounded by the images of emaciated models that appear on the covers of fashion magazines. Thousands of teenage girls are starving themselves daily in an effort to attain what the fashion industry considers to be the ideal figure. The average model weighs 23% less than the average woman. Maintaining a weight 20% below your expected body weight fits the criteria for the emotional eating disorder known as anorexia. Most models, according to medical standards, fit into the category of being anorexic (Thompson, Colleen). Anorexia has been known and recognized by doctors for at least 300 years. Most researchers agree that the number of patients with this life threatening disease is increasing at an alarming rate. The Rice Counseling Center defines anorexia as an emotional disorder characterized by an intense fear of becoming obese, lack of self-esteem and distorted body image which results in self-induced starvation. In accordance with information given by the Counseling Center at the University of Lawson 2 Virginia, the development of this disease generally begins at the age of 11 or 18. Significantly, these ages coincide with new phases of a girl's life, the commencement and ending of adolescence. Recent estimates suggest that out of every 200 American girls between this age span, one will develop anorexia to some degree. The disease develops over a period of time during which the sufferer changes her eating patterns from normal or near normal to a very restricted diet (S.C.A.R.E.D. Website). This process can take anywhere from months to years. Clinically, an anorexic is diagnosed by having a body weight 20% below the expected body weight of a healthy person at the same age and height of the eating disorder patient. The anorexic often becomes frightened of gaining weight and even of food itself. The patient may feel fat, even though their body weight is well below the normal weight for their height. Some also feel they do not deserve pleasure out of life and will deprive themselves of situations offering pleasure, including eating. The fears of anorexics become so difficult to manage that the sufferer will gradually isolate him/herself from other people and social activities (S.C.A.R.E.D. Website). This happens so the sufferer can continue the exhausting anorexic behaviors. Although 30% of anorexics eventually die from the disorder, approximately one third overcome the disease with psychiatric help. While the cause of anorexia is still unknown, a combination of psychological, environmental, and physiological factors is associated with the development of this disorder (Cove, Judy). The most common cause of anorexia in a girl is perception of Lawson 3 her weight. Anorexics feel as if they are heavier than the others around them, and believe the quickest way to lose weight is to simply stop eating. I became obsessed with body image. I kept journals and in one pathetic passage I described how I went for sixteen days on water, and only about two glasses a day says former anorexic Nanett Pearson, Miss Utah 1996. Ironically, when a person stops eating, their body goes into starvation mode losing very small amounts of weight. When the body receives food, it is then stored away until the next time food is obtained. At first, this method may seem to work and the subject loses weight, but as the body soon adjusts to the lack of food it learns to use the energy it is given stingily. Another cause of anorexia is the need to obtain perfection. A perfectionist desires excellence in all aspects of their life. When they cannot achieve perfection in their endeavors, they punish themselves by restriction or starvation. A perfectionist likes to be better than everyone else, if she sees someone with a waist an inch smaller, her waist must be two inches smaller. Anorexics sometimes desire control over their lives, including their physical and emotional surroundings. Miss Pearson explains I loved the power I felt in starving myself. People

Zebra Muscles in the Hudson River Essays

Zebra Muscles in the Hudson River Essays Zebra Muscles in the Hudson River Essay Zebra Muscles in the Hudson River Essay Essay Topic: At the Bottom Of the River Zebra Mussels in the Hudson River There is a large population of zebra mussels in the Hudson River. The zebra mussel migrated from Europe on the bottom of boats. This organisms population has greatly increased in the last few years and is causing many problems for the environment. The zebra mussel has a very negative effect on the environment surrounding the Hudson River because they are depleting the food supply of the fish, causing changes in the water, and taking up a lot of room. The Zebra Mussel is rapidly decreasing the food supply for fish in the river. There are many microorganisms in the river whos numbers have been affected by the ntroduction of the Zebra Mussel. For instance, the number of phytoplankton has been decreased by eighty two percent since the mussels were introduced in 1992 (river ecology pg. 8). With the decrease of these organisms, the fish species are suffering from a shortage of food. This is causing them to die off, decreasing the numbers of species that habitat the river. If the river loses all of its fish, it will cause a huge change in the environment surrounding it. With the phytoplankton at the lower end of the food chain, the small fish feed on them; the large fish feed on the small ish, and the larger animals in and around the river feed on the large fish. With the decrease of all of these food supplies, there will be a decrease of all of the species in the area. Not only is the decreased food supply an issue, but the zebra mussels are causing changes in the water of the Hudson River. For example, there are three main Abiotic factors, water temperature, dissolved oxygen, and suspended solids. Dissolved oxygen is a very important factor in the survival of organisms in the river. Studies show that Both producers and consumers (like zebra mussels) take up oxygen during respiration causing oxygen levels to drop. Zebra mussels also reduce oxygen levels by eating producers (like phytoplankton) that release 02 during photosynthesis (river ecology pg. 5). This effect that the zebra mussels have is a very negative effect. The reduced oxygen levels will make it so animals can no longer live in the river. This causes the area to lose a major food supply to the larger animals surrounding it. This will have a huge impact on the environment and the food chain. Along with the decreased food supply, and the changes to the water, zebra mussels also take up a lot of room in the river. Since they have been introduced, there have een a decreased number of other organisms for many reasons, with one being that there Just isnt enough room for all of the different species. Scientists say that if you had a huge balance and put zebra mussels on one side, they would outweigh all the other consumers in the ecosystem combined. (River ecology pg. 6). With the zebra mussels taking up over half of the population of the river, there isnt much room left for other organisms. The lack of diversity in the river is a huge problem to the food chain, because once a species no longer exists, it is hard for larger animals to find a ew supply of food. This again will cause a decrease in surrounding animals, and could even cause some animals to become extinct. In conclusion, the zebra mussel has a very negative effect on the environment surrounding the Hudson River because taking up a lot of room. If the number of zebra mussels isnt decreased, the Hudson River could be facing a huge problem. It is slowly losing its specie variety, the 02 levels are decreasing, and the river is being filled with more and more of this organism. If this isnt controlled, this area could have a large problem on their hands in the near future.

Tesco clubcard Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2750 words

Tesco clubcard - Assignment Example The main focus of the paper upon which conclusions have been made is the case study of Tesco Clubcard system that is entirely database driven. An introduction to the activities of Tesco has been given first to help understand where the database system comes in handy. Their various operations have been deeply analyzed to attempt to prove how their Clubcard has been key to their success, a technology built upon a database. In conclusion, the enviable long time success of Tesco has been found to have been greatly derived from the collection, storage and eventual analysis of this data about customers. The data stored has been a tool with which Tesco has realized staggering profits both locally and internationally. Although the paper acknowledges that there are few downsides to the use of databases it strongly concludes that due to the predominant benefits that Tesco has realized from use of Clubcard, databases are invaluable tools with immeasurable economic significance. Many will agree that we live in a society that is hungry for information aka the information era. In this era, the need to access information cannot be divorced from the daily operations of any business be it a manufacturing or service delivery based business. Storage of information about goods produced, supplied, ordered among much more information is of utmost significance to manufactures and so is the need to store data about customers and market trends to service delivery businesses. During the agrarian and industrial ages, information and data storage relied on files of written papers which served as records for future reference. Today, technology has changed this and data can be stored electronically on disks and later be easily accessed whenever need arise. Advancements in technology that have seen the growth of the internet where information can be shared from remote locations have driven