Bulimia

Bulimia is a very important health issue in today's society involving young, Caucasian females. It was first discovered in 1977 by Gerald Russell and Boskind-Lodahl, as an autonomous eating disorder. It has been estimated that around 200,000 to 300,000 women aged 13 to 40 have anorexia nervosa and twice as many have bulimia. Although many parents of teen girls struggling with body image may blame television models and superstars, but these issues and disorders started way back to their daughters' younger days of having pigtails and playing with Barbie dolls. In the following paragraphs I will explain and discuss the diagnosis, types, causes, risks, consequences, and treatments of this horrible disease.

In order for bulimia to be diagnosed, there are five different criteria that must be met. The first is called binge-eating; this is when a female eats a significantly greater amount of food then what is expected of her normal eating habits. The second is called purging, this when a female goes to the restroom after binging to get rid of all the food she just conceived. A bulimic will purge immediately after binging to prevent and weight gain. The third criterion that much be met is the frequency and duration of her binge and purge cycle. This means that she must have an episode of binging and then purging that occurs twice a week for three consecutive months. The second to last criteria is her body image and attitude about losing weight. A bulimic has an unrealistic image of her weight and appearance and is always worried about whether she fits the image of a girl her age. The last criterion, that must be met before a doctor can diagnose a young girl with bulimia, is that there must be an absence of anorexia, which is when a person just stops eating at all. If anorexia occurs at all during the three months of binging and purging, then it is said that the patient must have a binge and purge type anorexia called Anorexia Nervosa.

Women who suffer from bulimia are classified into two types, those who purge and those who do not. The first type of bulimics, are those who do have purging behavior. They self-induce vomiting or they use laxatives to rid their bodies of all the calories they consumed that day. The other type is women who do not purge after they have binged. Instead of making themselves vomit, the go to a gym and work out or they fast for a few days. The non-purging type occurs approximately in only 6-8% of bulimia cases. In some cases, women do all the above actions to control their weight.

At this point in time, the cause of bulimia is not very clear. Is may be due to a combination of things, although the reasons for developing the disease are different for each person. Young bulimic girls are usually those who have low-self esteem and worry that they are not as pretty or as thin as the other girls in their age group. There are now