Late End Stage Bulimia – Part 1

Bulimia is an eating disorder that affects thousands of people in Western cultures each and every year. The side effects of bulimia nervosa are far reaching considering the physical effects that sufferer experiences.

Bulimia is characterized by a poor self-image and distorted view of reality. The perspective is often that at near normal weight they are pudgy and overweight. This distortion causes them to use food to control their weight and their environment resulting in a strict diet regime. The characteristic of binging off the diet and then purging to prevent weight gain 2 times a week defines the actions of a bulimic.

Late end stage bulimia effects are a result of the way in which sufferers inappropriately purge themselves of the added calories in an effort to prevent weight gain. People suffering from bulimia will use one or a combination of several methods that include excessive exercise, self-induced vomiting and use of laxatives to purge their bodies of the extra calories that they ate.

Some of the long term effects of bulimia are life threatening or will result in life long damage done to the body. Purging the body with self-induced vomiting has an effect on the gastrointestinal tract, teeth, nutrition and cardiovascular systems.

Late stage bulimia effects will include dental damage from the bile acid in the vomit that comes in consistent contact with the back of the teeth. This damages the enamel and bulimics can lose the teeth.

Consistently vomiting large amounts of food may result in esophageal or stomach tears. These can be small tears that the body can heal spontaneously or they may result in larger tears that are medical emergencies when the sufferer begins to bleed internally.

Resources:

International Journal of eating Disorders: “End Stage Kidney” in longstanding bulimia nervosa

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16231363

Psychological Reports: Alexithymic Characteristics of Bulimia Nervosa in Diabetes Mellitus with End Stage Renal Disease

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/9354117

MeTheDoctor: The Three Stages of Bulimia

http://www.methedoctor.com/stages-of-bulimia.htm

Vanderbilt University: The Physiology and Psychology of Bulimia

http://www.vanderbilt.edu/AnS/psychology/health_psychology/bulimia.htm