Documentary – Dying to Be Thin

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/thin/program.html

The one hour documentary on anorexia and bulimia titled, “Dying to be thin” by Nova, informs the viewers of lifelong stories experienced by real people and statistics from years of research. According to the documentary, since the 1950’s the amount of people with anorexia increases by 36% every 5 years. Approximately, eight million people currently suffer from the disorders anorexia and bulimia. Also mentioned was that more women than men suffer from these diseases. These two diseases are very serious and very life threatening. The two diseases have been around for many years. For example, there is evidence that the Greeks experimented with binge eating and purging. In other words, some of them were bulimic.

With the huge amount of people suffering from these diseases, there are facilities that help people conquer them. Working with these people, professionals find out what the cause is behind their disease and how it works. Some doctors believe that due to high levels of serotonin in the brain, people want to decrease it. By dieting and reducing the amount of food people eat, theoretically the amount of serotonin in the brain reduces. However, the brain quickly adapts and the amount of serotonin goes right back up to normal. This creates a cycle which causes the patient to eat less and less.

With less food that gets absorbed by the body, people suffer from malnutrition. This causes a decrease in the hormone estrogen that is essential to the production and maintenance of bone mass. With less estrogen in the woman, the woman has no menstrual cycle. Researchers have linked the fact that with no menstrual cycle, bone density decreases because it’s a sign that the woman doesn’t have normal levels of estrogen. The longer a woman goes without having their period, the less dense their bones become. The documentary provided a real life example of this. A woman had no menstrual cycle for 15 years. By the time she was in her thirties, she had the bone mass of a seventy year old.

Some doctors in the documentary treat their patients with Prozac which reduces the level of serotonin in the body. From there, they begin the psychological treatment which involves finding the reason the patients started the disorder. They found that most patients who have one of these diseases have an anxiety that evolved early on in their life.

Some of the information mentioned in this documentary was no new news to my ears. I’ve heard of the two disorders before and I believe that they are very important to know about. It is important to know that anorexia and bulimia are life threatening. They will make your life less enjoyable and you can’t expect to deal with the issue on your own. You absolutely need help if you have one of these disorders. There are facilities that can help you deal with them. It is also important to know about these diseases because with the knowledge, you may be able to help someone else out.

What I found interesting was that serotonin and anxiety are major causes behind these diseases. I have heard of serotonin in my anatomy classes but forgot about it till today. Serotonin is a neurotransmitter in the brain that was shown to be in high levels in people who suffer with anorexia. However, with the case of anxiety, it only makes sense. Some people have the anxiety that they’ll gain weight. With the weight gain, they believe they’ll lose power. In other words, some may believe that power is being skinny and with skinny they’re beautiful.

To conclude, this documentary was both educational and informative. I believe the information is important to know because of the significant amount of people who suffer from the diseases. It is also important to know the effects and causes so people can stir clear. With that said, it was both interesting and worth while watching this documentary.

Here is the link again: http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/thin/program.html

Remember, the one hour documentary is divided into 8 pieces.

Reference:

“Dying to be Thin.” Nova Online. Web. 27 Oct 2009. <http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/thin/program.html>.