Side effects of bulimia nervosa are also related to the physical acts that people do to prevent weight gain such as self-induced vomiting and the use of laxatives. When a person vomits the large amounts of food they just consumed they bring up gastric acid as well. This acid eats away at the tooth enamel and destroys the teeth of the sufferer. They also risk esophageal tears from persistent vomiting.
The use of laxatives leads to dehydration, heart arrhythmias, muscle weakness and gastrointestinal distress.
Some of the more long term effects of bulimia can have life long consequences and even be life threatening. The condition of anorexia has been made most famous through television and the media attention to models and television actresses who suffer from this condition. But there are life threatening issues that happen with some of the more long term effects of bulimia.
Women are more likely to lose their menstrual periods and become infertile. Some research has shown that with recovery they will regain fertility but other research shows that even after a complete recovery people continue to suffer from some of the side effects of bulimia nervosa for a life time. Years of abusing the body through malnutrition and purging habits takes it’s toll on the body.
Some of these long term effects of bulimia nervosa include but are not limited to:
Hormonal changes to the body that affect the menstrual periods of women
Unbalanced thyroid and growth hormone that may result in a retarded growth of a teen
Heart disease which includes lethal heart arrhythmias
High cholesterol
Low blood pressure which affects the health of other organs such as kidneys resulting in kidney failure
Starvation of the muscles – including the heart muscle
Restricted blood flow through the body
Electrolyte imbalances such as potassium that results in irregular heart rate, fatigue, weakness
Loss of bone causing osteoporosis
Organ failure
Resources:
Go Ask Alice: Long-Term Effects of Bulimia
http://goaskalice.columbia.edu/long-term-effects-bulimia
The Recovery Ranch: Long Term Health Effects of Bulimia
http://www.recoveryranch.com/articles/eating-disorders/long-term-health-effects-of-bulimia/
Bing Eating Solutions: Effects of Eating Disorders
http://www.binge-eating-solutions.com/binge-consequences.php
Archives of General Psychiatry: A Prospective Study of Outcome in Bulimia Nervosa and the Long Term Effects of Three Psychological Treatments
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/7702447
Earth Clinic: Cure a Bulimic Disorder with Natural Remedies
http://www.earthclinic.com/CURES/bulimia.html
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