Anorexia, or anorexia nervosa, is a mental health condition that manifests as an eating disorder. It can have a huge impact on people's day-to-day lives and it can become life-threatening. It's a complex disorder, which makes it difficult to treat if not addressed early on. Each person varies in their individual symptoms and severity, but the disease has common characteristics: the restriction of food or calories in order to lose weight, the fear of gaining fat or weight, and a distorted body image (seeing yourself as fat when you have a normal or low body weight). Some may feel compelled to control their weight by excessive exercise, skipping meals, lying about food intake, wearing baggy clothes to cover up their body size, and the use of laxatives or other drugs to control weight. With a lack of nutrition and consequent hormonal changes, physical appearance can change. Downy hair may appear on the body and they may suffer dry skin. Girls or women may lose female characteristics post-puberty, or fail to develop these if before or during puberty. Periods may stop or not have started. Constipation, dizziness and fainting are common. Other mental health conditions can run alongside, or develop as a consequence of anorexia, such as depression, social withdrawal or anxiety, and difficulty with sleep and concentration. Left untreated, children may experience stunted growth or bone development problems. It can lead to health problems such as osteoporosis, anaemia, a lowered immune system, and heart problems or dangerously low blood pressure. It is because of these health problems that anorexia can become life-threatening.

Type 1 diabetes, previously known as juvenile diabetes or insulin-dependent diabetes, is a chronic autoimmune condition that affects individuals' ability to produce insulin. Unlike type 2 diabetes, which is often linked to lifestyle factors, type 1 diabetes typically emerges during childhood or adolescence, though it can occur at any age. This article offers an in-depth exploration of type 1 diabetes, covering its symptoms, causes, treatment options, prognosis, and when to seek medical attention.

Metabolic syndrome is the term used to describe a cluster of common medical problems including insulin resistance, abdominal obesity, high blood pressure, raised levels of blood triglyceride fats and low HDL-cholesterol levels. These can significantly raise your chance of developing heart disease, early age heart attacks, strokes and serious and life-threatening conditions. It is believed that if you have a combination of three or more of these conditions, then you have metabolic syndrome. This combination is very common, affecting around 25% of UK adults and up to 50% of adults globally. It may also occur in children and young adults who are obese, and that figure is growing as obesity becomes more common. In this article we look at what causes metabolic syndrome, how it is diagnosed, and what you can do to reduce your risk. What is metabolic syndrome? The term ‘metabolic syndrome’ has been used by doctors since the late 1980s, and the combination of conditions linked to it is used to identify people at high risk of developing type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease. It refers to specific conditions linked to obesity - particularly around the waist - and some which disturb the processes by which our bodies get energy. These include: Obesity, defined as a waistline of at least 89 centimetres (35 inches) for women and 102 centimetres (40 inches) for men High blood pressure, defined as higher than 130/85 Insulin resistance , diagnosed on a blood test where HbA1c is higher than 48 mmol/mol (or 6.5%) High cholesterol, as defined by high triglycerides and low HDL levels However, a diagnosis of metabolic syndrome does not take into account other factors such as age, smoking, gender and family history. Despite this, it is still felt by most healthcare professionals that it is a useful term as it can help to advise people who fit its criteria as to ways of preventing or reducing their longer term health risks associated with it.

Your thyroid gland is a small gland in the front of your neck. It's a chain reaction, where your brain releases a hormone, which prompts the thyroid gland to release a hormone (called thyroid-stimulating hormone or TSH), which then produces thyroxine, also called free T4. This is the active biochemical. Hypothyroidism means that your thyroid gland is underactive, or not making enough thyroid hormone. You get symptoms of a slowed metabolism, which affects how you use and store energy. This can affect the body in many ways: gain weight feel cold all the time feel tired sluggish need to sleep more dry skin hair loss slower in your thinking less able to concentrate feel a bit depressed have a slower or weaker pulse. Hypothyroidism is ten times more common in women than in men and in the UK about 1 in 100 of people have it. It is most common in adult women and becomes more common with increasing age but it can occur at any age and can affect anyone. Fortunately, it is easily fixed once it’s been identified and treatment started, although it can take a month or two for this to take full effect.

Diabetes, known as diabetes mellitus in full, is when the sugar levels in your blood are too high. This is due to a deficiency of a hormone called insulin, or alternatively, the insulin that is produced is not working properly. Insulin is made by your body and it helps move glucose (blood sugar) from the bloodstream into the cells of your body so it can be used as energy. The most common types of diabetes are type 1, type 2 and gestational diabetes. The typical symptoms of type 1 diabetes are feeling very thirsty and needing to urinate more than normal. Having to get up a lot in the night to go pee is a common complaint in people with undiagnosed diabetes. Other symptoms can include losing weight, feeling particularly tired, changes to your vision or sensations in your hands and feet, cuts or wounds taking longer to heal than normal, or getting more infections than usual such as thrush. Everyone who suffers from diabetes will need to attend a yearly eye check, foot check and blood pressure check, and have regular blood tests to check how their kidneys are functioning and other tests. This is because diabetes can lead to damage to your eyes and kidneys so it is important to catch and treat any problems early. It can also affect the nerves to your feet.

Diabetes insipidus (DI) is a very rare condition that leads to an imbalance of fluid in the body because of a problem with a specific hormone. It is not related to diabetes mellitus – a problem with regulating blood sugars – but shares some symptoms. With DI, you will feel very thirsty and drink several litres per day, coupled with an increase in how much you’re peeing out.

Obesity is a growing problem, currently affecting one in four adults in the UK. It can have serious implications for your health, including increased risk of breast and bowel cancer, Type 2 diabetes, heart disease, stroke, and disability from pressure on your bones and joints. Doctors have a scale to classify whether your weight is healthy, underweight or overweight, and it’s based on your body mass index (BMI), which takes into account your height and weight (kilograms per metres squared).  You have a healthy BMI if it’s between 18.5 to 24, and underweight if less than 18.5. A BMI of 25 to 29 is termed overweight, 30 to 39 is obese, and over 40 is classed as very obese. BMI gives an indication of obesity, but a diagnosis is made based on other factors such as waist circumference. Men with a waist size of 94 cm or women with a waist of more than 80cm put their health at risk. This article looks at the reasons why weight gain and obesity may occur, and gives you practical advice on how to help maintain to a healthy weight.

Bulimia, also known by its longer medical name of bulimia nervosa, is a mental health condition and type of eating disorder. It can have a huge impact on people's day-to-day lives and can lead to further health problems which in severe cases can be life-threatening if not treated. Symptoms and the severity of symptoms can vary from person to person but bulimia is characterised by cycles of eating or binging on large amounts of food in a short space of time and then compensating for this by restricting food, inducing vomiting, using laxatives, or excessively exercising. The compensatory behaviours to try and avoid weight gain cause hunger and so can lead to binge eating and is why bulimia can be a vicious cycle of binging followed by purging or restricting. Along with this, poor body image specifically regarding weight is also a common factor.