Expert: Ryan Hale - 2/20/2010

Question
hi, i know this is not quite your area of expertise but it would mean a lot if you could help and find out if you dont know.

i dont struggle with eating disorders or anything, but i am interested in knowing more about it. bulemia (?) is a commonly used term and i was wondereing if you could explain EXACTLY what it is. Mainly stuff like how often people will bring the food up again, how much weight people will lose in a week and stuff like that.

i am not at all interested in becoming bulemic (?) or anything, just broadening my knowledge.

Thanks

Answer
Rory-  Bulimia seems to have a genetic component but it accounts for only 25-50% situation.  People with eating disorders in general may tend to have a diminished sense of personal control in various aspects of their lives (relationships, school/work, etc), and often have a strikingly low self-esteem.  Often there is anxiety or depression or both with eating disorders, although bulimia seems to respond better to drugs given to treat depression and anxiety while anorexia does not seem to respond as well.  

For bulimia specifically, there is a heightened level of anxiety before, during and after snacking which may be relieved by the purging activity.  90-95% of bulimics are women.  Bulimics are more often closer to a safe weight than anorexics. About 50% of anorexics also have binge eating and purging behaviors.  Purging is not a very effective way of controlling calories, as the entire contents of the stomach are never completely purged.  In fact, only about 50% are.  

There are clinical criteria for bulimia to be considered an actual diagnosis.  They include, eating an amount of food that is entirely more than one would eat in a given amount of time and a recurring behavior of attempting to rid oneself of the calories through compensatory behavior.  There are also aspects such as body image and self evaluation.  Hope that helps.