Anorexia nervosa is a disease that affects about 8 million Americans. According to Stephanie Setliff, M.D., a psychiatrist at Children's Medical Center in Dallas, about one-third of those who acquire this disorder die from it, another one-third suffer with chronic illnesses such as organ failure or bone disease their entire life, and only about one-third eventually recover. According to a study by the National Association of Anorexia Nervosa and Associated Disorders, the mortality rate associated with anorexia nervosa is 12 times greater than the death rate of ALL other causes of death for females 15 to 24 years old.

One woman who has lived with, and finally conquered this frightening disease is Jenni Schaefer. She has written about her struggles with her eating disorder in the book, "Life Without Ed." Although this is a very serious subject, Schaefer manages to tastefully infuse a bit of humor into this account. She writes in such a way that it is a very easy and informative read, yet never loses the focus of the battle constantly being fought by victims of eating disorders.

She begins the introduction to her book, "Life Without Ed," by stating, "I have never been married, but I am happily divorced. Ed and I lived together for more than twenty years." She then follows up with an explanation of this contradiction:

"[Ed] is not a high school sweetheart. Ed is not some creep that I started dating in college. And Ed is not a guy that I met in the supermarket checkout line (although he does hang out a lot in grocery stores). Ed's name comes from the acronym E.D.as in eating disorder. Ed is my eating disorder."

In the beginning of the book, Schaefer tells of how her psychotherapist asked her to pull an extra chair up, then imagine her eating disorder was sitting in it. He then asked her to talk to her eating disorder. She says she thought HE was the one who needed professional help, but went along with it. Before long, she was asking her eating disorder why it wanted to control her life, and why it wouldn't leave her alone. In that hour of therapy, she began to feel a slight separation from her eating disorder, and by the end of it, she was referring to it by a man's name, "Ed."

Schaefer states she has written this book with the eating disorder victim in mind. Before her recovery, she says that her thoughts were so consumed by food and weight, and her health so poor that she found it hard to concentrate for more than a few minutes at a time.

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