Eating Disorder: Bulimia Nervosa, as Dangerous as Anorexia Nervosa

Bulimia is an eating syndrome characterized by alternating cycles of binge eating, and purging through such techniques as vomiting, laxatives abuse, extreme dieting or fasting, and drug or alcohol abuse. Binging appears to be caused at least in part by dieting. A related eating disorder, termed binge eating disorder, describes the many individuals who engage in recurrent binge eating but do not engage in the compensatory purging behavior to avoid weight gain. Binge eating usually occurs when the individual is alone; binging may be triggered by negative emotions produced by stressful experienced. The dieter behinds to eat and ten cannot stop, and although the binging is unpleasant, the binge feels out of control, unable to stop it. About half the people diagnosed with anorexia are also bulimic. Bulimia affects between I 1 and 3 % of women although up to 10% of people may have episodes.

Whereas many anorexics are thin, bulimics are typically of normal weight or overweight, especially though the hips. In bulimia, as in anorexia, binging and purging may be a reaction to issues of control. The binge phase has been interpreted as an out-of-control reaction of the body to restore weight, the purge phase, as effort to regain control reaction of the body to restore weight, the purge phase, an effort to regain control over weight. When a person goes on a diet, the association between physiological cues of hunger and eating break down. Dropping below the set point for her personal weight, the individual reacts as if she may starve: Metabolism slows, and she begins to respond to external food cues instead of internal cues, such as hunger.

Food can become a constant thought. Restrained eating, then, sets the stage for a binge. The control of eating shifts from internal shifts from internal sensations and is replaced by decisions about when and what to eat, which is called a cognitively based regulatory system. This regulatory system is easily disrupted by stress or distraction, and when it is, the dieter is vulnerable to binging. Over evaluating body appearance, a larger body mass than is desired, dieting, and symptoms of depression appear yet be especially implicated in triggering bring episodes.

Families that place a high value on thinness and appearance are more likely to produce bulimic daughters. Bulimia may have a genetic basis, inasmuch as eating disorders cluster in families and twin studies show a high concordance rate for binge eating.

Reference: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bulimia_nervosa