Overview

An eating disorder is a compulsion to eat, or avoid eating, that negatively affects both one's physical and mental health. Eating disorders are all encompassing. They affect every part of the person's life. According to the authors of Surviving an Eating Disorder, "feelings about work, school, relationships, day-to-day activities and one's experience of emotional well being are determined by what has or has not been eaten or by a number on a scale." Anorexia nervosa and bulimia nervosa are the most common eating disorders generally recognized by medical classification schemes, with a significant diagnostic overlap between the two. Together, they affect an estimated 5-7% of females in the United States during their lifetimes. There is a third type of eating disorder currently being investigated and defined - Binge Eating Disorder. This is a chronic condition that occurs when an individual consumes huge amounts of food during a brief period of time and feels totally out of control and unable to stop their eating. It can lead to serious health conditions such as morbid obesity, diabetes, hypertension, and cardiovascular disease.

Friday, September 25, 2009

What Are the Dangers in Suffering From Bulimia?

While some people may not know it, there are dangers in bulimia that can cause a person permanent damage physically and may even cause death. This eating disorder is not something to scoff at since there have been people who have died due to the effects that their constant binging and purging brought about. What dangers are there to be found in bulimia?

Bulimia is a disorder where a person tries to keep himself or herself within a specific body weight or figure that they want without having to diet. A person with bulimia usually eats and eats then compensates for what they eat by purging themselves of it with the use of laxatives and diuretics or by vomiting what they just ingested. Some people think that there is no harm in this since vomiting is a natural reflex of the body when something undesirable in is the stomach. Vomiting is okay if the stomach does purge itself of something that should not be there. Doing it purposefully and constantly to avoid the absorption of nutrients from the food that is ingested just to avoid gaining weight is not okay.

When you force yourself to vomit whatever it is you eat, you are forcing up and out of your body more than just the food you ate. You are forcing out stomach acids as well. Since stomach acids are strong enough to break down the food that you take in, imagine the damage it can do to the throat, the teeth and the gums that it comes in contact with. With every forced vomit you make, you expose your throat, your teeth and even your heart to the acids that belong in your stomach and these strong acids will damage these other parts of your body.

Other dangers in bulimia you can expect include damage to your stomach through the eruption of ulcers and possible dehydration. When you eat and the food reaches your stomach, you are signaling it to produce the acids that will break down the food that is there. When you force the food out of your stomach, you will be leaving your stomach with acids that have nothing to dissolve. The result? These acids will end up dissolving the lining of your stomach which will then result in stomach ulcers.

The dangers in bulimia do not only revolve around physical aspects. Bulimic patients also find that they suffer from certain psychological problems as well. Feelings of low self esteem, depression and anxiety over weight gain and how they look are often what people with bulimia suffer. They often live with the feeling of guilt which includes guilt over eating too much, guilt over not looking good enough and guilt over throwing up what they ate.

All of these dangers in bulimia can cause a person to suffer greatly, both physically and mentally. If this problem is left untreated, a person may suffer more than just a sore throat or a few damaged teeth and a bruised ego. When bulimia is left untreated, a person may suffer a heart attack and find themselves in a hospital or worse.



Autor: Julie Swane

Learn more about bulimia recovery and the different treatments available by visiting Bulimia Recovery.


Added: September 25, 2009
Source: http://ezinearticles.com/

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