Common Bulimia nervosa

Bulimia nervosa, is an eating disorder, which is often times confused with Anorexia Nervosa. Although the two "Nervos's", are similar Bulimia involves binge eating before intentionally starving the body by excessive excercise, laxatives, and more commonly vomiting.

Due to the fact that Bing eating, and excessive excercise for example can be on a broad spectrum, there is a set of criteria that has been set out as a guideline for a patient to be diagnosed with bulimia. The criteria is listed below: - The patient is of normal weight or overweight. - The patient does not meet the diagnostic criteria for anorexia nervosa. - The patient feels incapable of controlling the urge to binge, even during the binge itself, and consumes a larger amount of food than a person would normally consume at one sitting. - The patient purges him or herself of the recent intake, resorting to vomiting, laxatives, diuretics, exercising, etc. - The patient engages in such behavior at least twice per week for three months. - The patient is focused upon body image and the desperate desire to appear thin.

Although the end result in Bulimia involves food habits, the initial cause is due to a psychological issues and lack of self control. "Binge" and "purge" sessions are often times severe, and in often cases are only stopped when the individual is interupted by another person. The frequency of Bulimia varies by the individual, and can range from daily to weekly,etc. If you or someone you love is affected with Bulimia it is recommended that you take immediate steps to start getting control back, and eliminating the disorder.

Feel free to reprint this article as long as you keep the article, this caption and author biography in tact with all hyperlinks.

Ryan Fyfe is the owner and operator of Bulimia Area - http://www.bulimia-area.com, which is the best site on the internet for all bulimia related information.

Eating Disorders - Bulimia Nervosa Treatment

In this article we're going to cover treatments for Bulimia Nervosa. These treatments actually apply to most eating disorders as they are more or less caused by the same emotional problems.

While eating disorders stem from emotional issues in a person's life they are nevertheless still serious health conditions that can do great physical harm to the person as well as the emotional harm that has come before it and will continue long after. Early diagnosis gives a person suffering from an eating disorder a better chance for recovery. Eating disorders can become chronic, debilitating, and even life-threatening. Early treatment is critical.

The only really effective and long lasting treatment for an eating disorder like Bulimia Nervosa is some kind of psychotherapy or counseling. This along with attention to both medical and nutritional treatments proves effective in getting a person through this terrible disease. Of course the treatment is going to vary from individual to individual because of the emotional nature of the disease and the severity to which each person is suffering.

Treatment usually involves some form of psychological counseling where the therapist must not only address the eating disorder itself but the underlying reasons for why the person is behaving in this manner. This behavior is usually caused by psychological, interpersonal, and cultural influences and forces. Peer pressure is one of the most common causes of this kind of behavior; the feeling that one has to be thin to fit in with the crowd. That is why this disease targets mostly young girls. The person performing the actual counseling can be a psychiatrist, psychologist, social worker, nutritionist or even a primary care physician. However in extreme cases a psychiatrist will most likely be needed. Whoever does provide the care should be experienced with treating eating disorders or greater harm than good can be done.

Nutritional counseling is also needed to make sure that the person suffering from this disease is getting a well balanced diet and that the person's progress is monitored such as weekly weighing. Charts should be kept to make sure the person does not backslide.

Many people with eating disorders respond very well to outpatient therapy where they are allowed to go home after each session. This gives them a feeling of security being in a home environment for most of their treatment. Of course with this type of program it is important that the family carefully monitor the person while they are at home to make sure there is no bingeing and purging. Knowing what to look out for now, this becomes a lot easier.

However, in extreme cases inpatient therapy is required. This is usually necessary when the person is in the later stages of the disease and is already showing serious physical symptoms that are on the verge of becoming life threatening or when the psychological factor has become so strong that the person can no longer rationally function in a home environment. Inpatient therapy usually needs to be followed by a period of outpatient therapy as well until the person is able to function on their own.

Just like with alcoholism and drug addiction there is no cure. It is a daily battle fighting an eating disorder like Bulimia Nervosa. But with early detection and proper care and person can go on to lead a normal and healthy life.

Michael Russell
Your Independent guide to Eating Disorders

How To Recover From Anorexia And Bulimia Nervosa

Eating disorders are very serious problems. There are two types: anorexia nervosa and bulimia nervosa and both of them are very dangerous and can have mortal result.

Anorexia is an eating disorder when people starve themselves. Usually, anorexia begins around onset puberty. On this age young girls are very vulnerable and concerned about their body shape. Simple careless word ?you look fat!? may be the reason why girls stop eating. More to say, individuals, suffering from anorexia become very skinny, but think that they are overweight.

Bulimia is an eating disorder, when person eats too much food in a short amount of time and then try to prevent weight gain by purging (throw up or taking laxatives). Bulimia may be very harmful to body: teeth become yellow and sensitive to cold or hot, skin becomes dry, irregular period and etc.

It?s important to find out that person has anorexia or bulimia and give him a professional help. First of all, it is important to recognize the symptoms of anorexia or bulimia in oneself or others around us. It may be difficult to do but you should be very critical if a person loses a lot of weight in a short period of time without any physical disorder. Since people who suffer from eating disorders deny they have a problem it might be very hard to persuade them to get some help. It is very important to admit to the problem if you actually suffer with bulimia or anorexia. There are many self-help books try to find the solution.

There are professional ways to help anorexia and bulimia sufferers. All the treatment methods may be classified into three groups:

1) diet regulation;
2) medications;
3) Psychotherapy -- both individual and family therapy.

Diet regulation is firstly important to anorexics. This method of treatment is usually used in combination with psychotherapy. It is important to increase the number of calories consumed everyday -- starting with 1500 kcal per day up to 3500 ? 4000 kcal per day. Individual as well as family or group therapy might help both anorexics and bulimia sufferers. There are special centers for treatment of eating disorders where anorexia and bulimia sufferers spend 24 hours a day until they recover.

Bear in mind that recovery may take a while since the problems are very deep beneath. To some, eating disorders may persist for years and may reoccur after treatment. However, it is very important to treat anorexia and bulimia, because these diseases may lead to serious physical complications and even death.

The Battle of Bulimia

Copyright 2006 Anne Wolski

In a world where a person's worth tends to be measured by appearance, it is little wonder that we have so many young women falling into the trap of eating disorders. This obsession with achieving the perfect figure has led to one of the most dangerous and life-threatening epidemics of our time.

Bulimia is but one of a growing number of eating disorders recognized in our modern society. It is a serious disorder characterized by binge eating followed by forced vomiting or by purging using laxatives. People with bulimia go through this ritual in order to avoid the weight gain which would normally accompany an eating binge.

Why people get this condition is largely unknown and prone to speculation though it is commonly believed that family and social pressure, as well as unrealistic portrayals of perfect body image in the media, play a significant role. The person is also likely to have intense psychological problems.

Unlike people with anorexia, sufferers of bulimia are not as obvious as they normally remain within about twenty percent of their normal weight range. This makes it difficult for a doctor to diagnose. A person with anorexia has the obvious signs of emaciation but with a bulimia sufferer, it is really necessary to observe the binge eating. Because binge eating is usually carried out secretively, this can create a problem in reaching an early diagnosis.

The person is likely to come from a middle-class or upper-class family who are very controlling and put great importance on achievement. The person is often led to believe that diet and figure are of extreme importance. Thus, the person with bulimia, already suffering from a distorted body image, loses their self-esteem.

Because they suffer from bouts of insatiable hunger, they must then compensate for their binges by removing the food from their body by whatever means they can in order to achieve the image acceptable to the parents and to society in general.

These episodes of induced vomiting and purging bring with them another lot of medical problems. In the case of repeated vomiting, the acid irritates the esophagus and pharynx, leaving them inflamed. The acid also affects the teeth, leaving them sharp and rough. Laxative abuse can cause hemorrhoids as well as chronic constipation. Vomiting and the abuse of laxatives can both cause dehydration and electrolyte imbalances.

Treatment often relies on hospitalization where the person receives psychiatric counseling to try to uncover the underlying causes and to help the person to self recovery through understanding of their own issues. There is often group therapy involved as well.

The physical problems are treated symptomatically and also include a diet regime that can control weight without the dangers that this obsession of bulimia can bring. The person should continue with counseling for quite some time after returning home from hospital.

Although bulimia is a serious disorder, death is rare. By seeking treatment and with the loving support of family and friends, the sufferer can eventually return to normal eating habits and a normal, happy and healthy lifestyle.

Anne Wolski has worked in the health and welfare industry for over 30 years and is also co director of http://www.magnetic-health-online.com which is a health information portal of many interesting articles by people in the medical industry, as well as http://www.pharmacybyweb.com which has online physicians who can answer your medical questions.