The family of Terri Schiavo, a 41-year-old Florida woman, remains embroiled in a legal dispute over whether or not to remove a feeding tube that has kept her alive for the past 15 years. Schiavo has been in a vegetative state since she collapsed in 1990. The collapse was due to brief heart failure, which disrupted oxygen supply to her brain and caused severe brain damage.
The dispute between Michael Schiavo, Terri's husband and legal guardian, and Terri's parents over whether or not to remove Terri's feeding tube has drawn new attention to the right-to-life debate.
According to CNN.com, Michael Schiavo has repeatedly asserted "Terri would not have wanted to be kept alive artificially," however, she left no written statement of what she would have wanted in such a condition. Terri Schiavo's parents contend that Schiavo, a Roman Catholic, would not desire to die in this manner due to her religious beliefs.
On Friday, March 18, Schiavo's physicians removed her feeding tube for the third time, following a court order by the Florida state judge, Circuit Judge George Greer. Schiavo is expected to survive for one to two weeks following this procedure. The last time the tube was removed, Florida Legislature passed a law that allowed Governor Jeb Bush to order that the tube be reinserted. The Florida Supreme Court later deemed this law unconstitutional.
Since the removal of Schiavo's feeding tube last Friday, Republican leaders in Congress have continued to work on new legislation to reinsert Schiavo's feeding tube. In response to these efforts, Michael Schiavo told CBS' Early Show that, "they should be ashamed of themselves. Leave my wife alone. Leave me alone."
The cause of Schiavo's collapse remains obscured by the legal dispute over her future.
Terri Schiavo's present condition was due to a desire to lose weight. After spending a childhood as a stout, 5'3" girl, weighing 200 pounds at the most, Schiavo resolved to become thin in her late teens, according to ABC News.
Faced with obstacles in her attempts to lose weight, Schiavo began to force herself to vomit after eating and to try to survive on a liquid-only diet. According to the lawyer, who represented the Schiavos in a malpractice case against Schiavo's physician, Terri Schiavo's heart failure in 1990 was due to a potassium imbalance resulting from an eating disorder.
Terri Schiavo's parents have contested the assertion that Schiavo had an eating disorder, and indicate that her husband caused her collapse, according to ABC News. Before her collapse, Schiavo sought help from her physician because she had stopped menstruating. The doctor, however, did not take a complete history that would have indicated that Schiavo had an eating disorder. Months later, Schiavo collapsed.
Eating disorders pose serious potential health problems, including heart failure. According to The National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH), "Eating disorders are not due to a failure of will or behavior; rather, they are real, treatable medical illnesses in which certain maladaptive patterns of eating take on a life of their own." Eating disorders affect over 25 million people nationwide, according to the National Eating Disorders Association.
There are three major types of eating disorders: anorexia nervosa, bulimia nervosa and binge eating. Each disorder has many characteristic symptoms, according to WebMDHealth.
Symptoms of anorexia nervosa include: body weight that is less than 85 percent of what is expected, absence of menstrual periods and overexercise. Bulimia nervosa is diagnosed when individuals exhibit binge-purge: binging by quickly consuming a large amount of food and then purging by vomiting, overexercising, or taking laxatives or other drugs.
People who suffer from binge eating disorder often consume large amounts of food within short time periods uncontrollably, eat quickly and even though they are not hungry, eat alone out of embarrassment over the amount they eat, feel distressed over the amount consumed, and have such episodes two days a week for at least six months.
People who suffer from eating disorders are often extremely preoccupied with body shape and size, have low self-esteem, and may suffer from depression according to WebMDHealth. Although an individual may not appear thin, it may be possible that they have an eating disorder.
There are many serious consequences of eating disorders. According to the Academy of Eating Disorders, an eating disorder may cause abnormally low heart rate, abdominal distress, hypotension, anemia, kidney dysfunction, cardiovascular problems, changes in brain structure and osteoporosis. Purging by vomiting can cause salivary glands to swell, disrupt mineral and electrolyte balance and erode dental enamel.
Eating disorders and their associated risks can be treated by seeking help and addressing the issues that cause these disorders. According to NIMH, eating disorders require medical care, psychological and nutritional help, and may necessitate medications.
Many organizations offer help and support for those who may be afflicted by an eating disorder, including The National Eating Disorders Association and Academy of Eating Disorders (http://www.aedweb.org).
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