bulimia

Bulimia Nervosa is not simply ordinary overeating. As an abnormal change in eating behavior, bulimia nervosa should have the following characteristics: the patient's desire or behavior for food intake often occurs in episodes, and once the desire to eat arises, it is difficult to control and resist, with each episode involving a large amount of food; the patient fears gaining weight, so often self-induces vomiting after eating, and may also use laxatives or increase exercise to counteract weight gain from binge eating; the above binge eating episodes occur at least twice a week and have persisted for at least 3 months or more. There is also frequent excessive concern about body shape and weight. Only when these characteristics are met can a diagnosis of bulimia nervosa be made. Bulimia nervosa most often occurs in adolescents or early adulthood, with a higher prevalence in females; male patients account for only about 1/10 of female patients. The onset of bulimia nervosa is usually associated with certain precipitating factors, such as poor interpersonal relationships, long-term emotional irritability and depression, or dissatisfaction with one's overweight body shape, leading to extreme dieting measures, which then uncontrollably turn into binge eating when hunger becomes unbearable. Sometimes binge eating temporarily relieves anxiety and depressed mood. Therefore, whenever irritable emotions arise, they will dive into food to dispel negative feelings. Initially, bulimia nervosa patients feel ashamed of their binge eating behavior, so they often binge in secret and try to restrain themselves in public, but in later stages, this control is completely lost. Self-induced vomiting is their most common method of controlling weight gain, using fingers or other objects to stimulate the throat immediately after binge eating to expel stomach contents, while some use laxatives for timely evacuation. Due to the long-term use of these inappropriate methods to eliminate food, many patients may develop electrolyte disturbances, gastrointestinal and cardiovascular complications.