My Science School

People with the disorder pica compulsively eat items that have no nutritional value. A person with pica might eat relatively harmless items, such as ice. Or they might eat potentially dangerous items, likes flakes of dried paint or pieces of metal.

In the latter case, the disorder can lead to serious consequences, such as lead poisoning.

This disorder occurs most often in children and pregnant women. It’s usually temporary. See your doctor right away if you or your child can’t help but eat nonfood items. Treatment can help you avoid potentially serious side effects.

Pica also occurs in people who have intellectual disabilities. It’s often more severe and long-lasting in people with severe developmental disabilities.

There’s no single cause of pica. In some cases, a deficiency in iron, zinc, or another nutrient may be associated with pica. For example, anemia, usually from iron deficiency, may be the underlying cause of pica in pregnant women.

Your unusual cravings may be a sign that your body is trying to replenish low nutrient levels.

People with certain mental health conditions, such as schizophrenia and obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), may develop pica as a coping mechanism.

 

Picture Credit : Google

Emotional eating is the tendency of its sufferers to respond to stressful, difficult feelings by eating, even when not experiencing physical hunger. Emotional eating or emotional hunger is often a craving for high-calorie or high-carbohydrate foods that have minimal nutritional value. The foods that emotional eaters crave are often referred to as comfort foods, like ice cream, cookies, chocolate, chips, French fries, and pizza. About 40% of people tend to eat more when stressed, while about 40% eat less and 20% experience no change in the amount of food they eat when exposed to stress.

Warning signs for emotional eating include a tendency to feel hunger intensely and all of a sudden, rather than gradually as occurs with a true physical need to eat that is caused by an empty stomach. Emotional eaters tend to crave junk foods rather than seeking to eat balanced meals, and the urge to eat is usually preceded by stress or an uncomfortable emotion of some kind, like boredom, sadness, anger, guilt, or frustration. Other hallmarks of emotional eating are that the sufferer may feel a lack of control while eating and often feels guilty for what they have eaten.

A number of different health care professionals evaluate and treat emotional eating and may also help with weight loss when this contributes to overweight or obesity. As this symptom can occur at nearly anytime across the life span, everyone from pediatricians, family practitioners, and other primary care physicians may address this problem. Nurses, nurse practitioners, and physician assistants may be involved in caring for emotional-eating sufferers. Mental health professionals who are often involved in assessing and treating this issue include psychiatrists, clinical psychologists, social workers, and licensed counselors. While any one of these practitioners may care for people who engage in emotional eating, more than one may work together to help the person overcome this symptom.

 

Picture Credit : Google

Binge eating disorder (BED) is a type of feeding and eating disorder that’s now recognized as an official diagnosis. It affects almost 2% of people worldwide and can cause additional health issues linked to diet, such as high cholesterol levels and diabetes.

BED was first explained in 1959 by Albert Stunkard, a psychiatrist, and researcher, as Night Eating Syndrome (NES). The term Binge Eating Disorder was created to define similar binge eating behavior without the nocturnal aspect.

Though BED can occur in men and women of normal weight, it often leads to the development of unwanted weight gain or obesity, which can indirectly reinforce further compulsive eating.

Men and women suffering from BED struggle with emotions of disgust and guilt and often have a related co-morbidity, such as depression or anxiety.

Professional support and treatment from health professionals specializing in the treatment of binge eating disorders, including psychiatrists, nutritionists, and therapists, can be the most effective way to address BED.

Such a treatment program would address the underlying issues associated with destructive eating habits, focusing on the central cause of the problem.

It is necessary to concentrate on healing from the emotional triggers that may be causing binge eating, having proper guidance in establishing healthier coping mechanisms to deal with stress, depression, anxiety, etc.

 

Picture Credit : Google

Anorexia nervosa is a serious mental health condition and a potentially life threatening eating disorder. However, with the right treatment, recovery is possible.

The exact cause of anorexia is not known, but research suggests that a combination of certain personality traits, emotions, and thinking patterns, as well as biological and environmental factors might be responsible.

People with anorexia often use food and eating as a way to gain a sense of control when other areas of their lives are very stressful or when they feel overwhelmed. Feelings of inadequacy, low self-esteem, anxiety, anger, or loneliness also might contribute to the development of the disorder. In addition, people with eating disorders might have troubled relationships, or have a history of being teased about their size or weight. Pressure from peers and a society that equates thinness and physical appearance with beauty also can have an impact on the development of anorexia.

Eating disorders also might have physical causes. Changes in hormones that control how the body and mind maintain mood, appetite, thinking, and memory might foster eating disorders. The fact that anorexia nervosa tends to run in families also suggests that a susceptibility to the disorder might partially be hereditary.

 

Picture Credit : Google

Deep sleep or slow wave sleep is the third stage of non-REM sleep. Although the body completes a few cycles throughout the night, the third stage occurs in longer periods during the first part of the night.

In the body, the heart rate and breathing rate are at their lowest during this part of the sleep cycle. The muscles and eyes are also very relaxed, and the brain waves become even slower.

It may be very difficult to wake someone from this stage of sleep, which is when sleep disorders, such as sleepwalking, occur.

This stage of sleep also helps the brain rest and recover from a day of thinking, allowing it to replenish energy in the form of glucose for the next day.

Deep sleep also plays a role in keeping the hormones balanced. The pituitary gland secretes human growth hormone during this stage, which helps tissues in the body grow and regenerate cells.

Importantly, a person has to get enough deep sleep for these functions to take place. The amount of deep sleep that a person has will relate to how much overall sleep they get. Sleeping 7 to 9 hours is the recommendation for most adults, which will usually give the body plenty of time in the deeper states of sleep.

 

Picture Credit : Google

Melatonin is a hormone found naturally in the body. Melatonin used as medicine is usually made synthetically in a laboratory. It is most commonly available in pill form, but melatonin is also available in forms that can be placed in the cheek or under the tongue. This allows the melatonin to be absorbed directly into the body.



Some people take melatonin by mouth to adjust the body's internal clock. Melatonin is most commonly used for insomnia and improving sleep in different conditions. For example, it is used for jet lag, for adjusting sleep-wake cycles in people whose daily work schedule changes (shift-work disorder), and for helping people establish a day and night cycle.

Melatonin's main job in the body is to regulate night and day cycles or sleep-wake cycles. Darkness causes the body to produce more melatonin, which signals the body to prepare for sleep. Light decreases melatonin production and signals the body to prepare for being awake. Some people who have trouble sleeping have low levels of melatonin. It is thought that adding melatonin from supplements might help them sleep.

 

Picture Credit : Google

Circadian rhythms are 24-hour cycles that are part of the body’s internal clock, running in the background to carry out essential functions and processes. One of the most important and well-known circadian rhythms is the sleep-wake cycle.

Newborns do not have a circadian rhythm developed until they are a few months old. This can cause their sleeping patterns to be erratic in the first days, weeks, and months of their lives. Their circadian rhythm developsTrusted Source as they adapt to the environment and experience changes to their bodies. Babies begin to release melatonin when they are about three months old, and the hormone cortisol develops from 2 months to 9 months old.

Teenagers experience a shift in their circadian rhythm known as sleep phase delay. Unlike in their childhood years with early bedtimes around 8 or 9 p.m., teenagers may not get tired until much later in the night.

Melatonin may not rise until closer to 10 or 11 p.m. or even later. That shift also results in a teenager’s need to sleep later in the morning. Their peak sleepy hours at night are from 3 a.m. to 7 a.m. — or may even be later — but they still need the same amount of sleep as children.

Adults should have a pretty consistent circadian rhythm if they practice healthy habits. Their bedtimes and wake times should remain stable if they follow a fairly regular schedule and aim for seven to nine hours of sleep every night. Adults likely get sleepy well before midnight, as melatonin releases into their bodies. They reach their most tired phases of the day from 2 to 4 a.m. and 1 to 3 p.m.

Older adults may notice their circadian rhythm changes with age, and they begin to go to bed earlier than they used to and wake in the wee hours of the morning. In general, this is a normal part of aging.

 

Picture Credit : Google

Children and adolescents who do not get enough sleep have a higher risk of obesity, diabetes, injuries, poor mental health, and problems with attention and behavior.1-4

How much sleep someone needs depends on their age. The American Academy of Sleep Medicine has recommended that children aged 6–12 years should regularly sleep 9–12 hours per 24 hours and teenagers aged 13–18 years should sleep 8–10 hours per 24 hours.

During the teen years, the body's circadian rhythm (an internal biological clock) is reset, telling a person to fall asleep later and wake up later. This change is likely due to the brain hormone melatonin , which is released later at night for teens than it is for kids and adults. This can make it harder for teens to fall asleep early.

Changes in the body's circadian rhythm coincide with a busy time in life. For most teens, the pressure to do well in school is more intense and it's harder to get by without studying hard. And teens have other time demands — everything from sports and other extracurricular activities to working a part-time job. Using electronics — including phones, tablets, and computers — also makes it hard to fall sleep. Many teens are up late texting friends, playing games, and watching videos.

Early school start times also play a role in lost sleep. Teens who fall asleep after midnight still have to get up early for school, meaning that they might squeeze in only 6 or 7 hours, or less, of sleep a night. A few hours of missed sleep a night may not seem like a big deal, but it can create a noticeable sleep deficit over time.

 

Picture Credit : Google