The person who suffers from Bulimia Nervosa exhibits constant preoccupation with food and the effect that ingesting it in exaggerated amounts has on your weight and body shape. At the same time, he cannot control the impulse to eat at the sight of food. Use inappropriate methods to prevent weight gain, such as self-induced vomiting, ingestion of laxatives, consumption of slimming tablets or excessive physical exercise.
These episodes can occur on average twice a week for at least three months. The binge is characterized by the exaggerated ingestion of food with intervals of less than two hours, in which the loss of control stands out, in which the patient reports difficulties to stop eating once it has started.
These episodes may or may not be planned, but there is always rapid consumption that can cause discomfort and pain. There is no discrimination of the type of food, so sweets and others that provide many calories are included. Sometimes this behavior embarrasses them and they may eat in secret.
Among the inappropriate compensatory methods to prevent weight gain, the most common is the induction of vomiting, 80-90% sometimes vomit after eating small amounts of food. From using the fingers so much to cause vomiting, calluses appear on the hands. One third of patients resort to other purging behaviors such as laxatives and diuretics and rarely use enemas.
Bulimia Nervosa more frequent in young women
- Bulimia Nervosa begins in late adolescence or early adult life, after or during an imposed diet. The disorder persists for at least several years in a high percentage of cases. The disorder may be chronic or intermittent, with periods of remission alternating with recurrence of food intake.
- The disorder occurs with similar frequency in most industrialized countries, including the US, Canada, Europe, Australia; Japan, New Zealand and South Africa.
- Like Anorexia Nervosa, Bulimia Nervosa is predominantly a disorder of youth, Caucasians, females, and the upper and middle class. It is harder to detect than anorexia. Prevalence among adolescentsand female young adults is approximately 1% to 3%. The range of occurrence of this disorder in males is approximately 1 to 10 relative to females.
- Some patients with Bulimia Nervosa may also have hidden forms of Anorexia Nervosa with significant weight loss and amenorrhea.
Bulimia treatment
- The Treatment of Bulimia and Bulimia-Anorexia requires medical care and psychotherapies. Individual, Group, Family and Behavior Therapy have been used with modest success. Antidepressants may be useful in some patients, obtaining better results with the use of fluoxetine and other selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors.
- Although death from Bulimia is rare, the long-term prognosis in the severe form is worse than the prognosis for Anorexia Nervosa, suggesting that the underlying psychiatric disorders may also be more severe.