Bulimia Nervosa

Bulimia Nervosa affects 1-2 percent of females in the US and although it is not completely a female disorder, a whopping 92-98 percent of bulimia sufferers are female. Bulimia Nervosa involves cycles of binging and purging, where the sufferer will eat a tremendous amount of food only to forcibly purge themselves of it. Although bulimia sufferers appears in public to have an equalibrium in terms of weight, the disorder can still cause a massive strain and stress on many organs of the body and left unchecked bulimia nervosa can result in death.

Those who have bulimia nervosa often suffer from a distorted body relationship and depression. Although bulimia nervosa's cause is clearly rooted in the psyche of the sufferer, there is great debate just like other eating disorder on what exactly is the trigger for bulimia nervosa. Many eating disorder professionals also believe that western society's emphasis on being thin has helped increase the cases of bulimia nervosa. Yet, others feel it is a combination of emotional stress, pressure, trauma from earlier in childhood. Other research indicate genetics can play a part in causing bulimia nervosa to develop.

The most important part of treating bulimia nervosa is knowledge and awareness of its symptoms. These symptoms include:

• *a negative association between a body weight and one's self esteem
  
• *a past history of anorexia nervosa
  
• *distorted body image
  
• *constant weight fluctuation
  
• *Hypothermia, hypotension and/or slowed heart rate
  erosion of tooth enamel
  
• *scars or other marks on the fingers from bumping into tooth while trying to induce vomiting