Bulimia Nervosa

Bulimia Nervosa

Did you know that up to 4.2 percent of females have Bulimia Nervosa in their lifetime? That is almost one out of twenty. This is an eating disorder in which the person who has the disease gorges themselves then rids their body of it in inappropriate ways. Women are way more likely to get it. In fact bulimia ten times more common in females than in males. Bulimia Nervosa is a terrible disorder that affects many of the people that you associate with every day, and needs to be known about so that victims of this may be treated.

Our society now days stress that being overweight is a terrible thing. Don’t get me wrong it is bad, but people girls especially stress about this until it forces them to take drastic measures. This is thought to be the reason why so many teens are turning to this as a solution to their weight problem. Also, persons with low self esteem often look at themselves in unrealistic angles. This is another way that someone can develop bulimia. The problem with this way is that even someone who is normal weight can develop this disorder. The only problem is that often they will totally deny that they have any problem. This makes it difficult to diagnose and treat. So they need your help. Someone needs to intervene and get them help because they can be helped.

People suffering from Bulimia Nervosa start their symptom cycle by binge eating. This is when they overindulge themselves with high fat, high calorie foods. After feeling regret for what they have done they decide that they need to get rid of that often by purging. Purging is when they abuse medicines or use self-induced vomiting to rid themselves of the fatty foods they have ingested. Some of these medications include: laxatives, diuretics, enemas. There are other medicines used, these are just a few examples. Also over exercising and fasting is used to make up for all the calories that they have eaten. Purging can cause and electrolyte imbalance that results in major dehydration. Because not only are they ridding themselves of food, but they are also losing water, sodium and electrolytes. In some cases purging has also caused the stomach to rapture. Finally, because of the loss of important minerals heart failure can happen if left untreated.

Luckily, treating bulimia isn’t too hard. It might take a long time though. Since patients are not in danger of starving themselves to death, like in cousin disease anorexia nervosa, they can live at home. They may only need to come to therapy a couple of times a week depending on the