Bulimia nervosa

Bulimia nervosa is an eating disorder characterized by recurrent and irresistible urges to eat and binge-eating behavior. Patients have a fear of gaining weight and often adopt extreme measures such as self-induced vomiting, laxative use, and fasting to eliminate the weight gain caused by binge eating. It may alternate with anorexia nervosa, and the two share similar pathopsychological mechanisms as well as gender and age distribution. Most patients are continuations of anorexia nervosa, with an onset age later than that of anorexia nervosa. This disorder is not binge eating caused by organic neurological lesions, nor is it binge eating secondary to mental disorders such as epilepsy or schizophrenia.