Many of us are sure that bulimia is one of the options for combating obesity, but this is far from being the case. Find out what bulimia is important, if only because you can prevent it from appearing or notice the first signs of a disease in someone close to you.
Bulimia - what is this disease?
At present, there are many terms with which you can characterize this phenomenon. Bulimia is a disease that is based on a neuropsychological disorder. A sick person suffers from attacks of uncontrolled hunger, but actively struggles with excess calories, using laxatives for this and causing a vomitive reflex.
Asking the question, what is bulimia, it is necessary to understand that this is a serious disease that requires timely therapy by qualified specialists. If the treatment of bulimia is illiterate or late, it can end very badly, so it is very serious about the problem of such a plan.
What is the risk of bulimia?
The consequences can be very different. What causes bulimia - a very reasonable question, which is worth a detailed examination:
- It is a question of the danger of self-induced vomiting, which sooner or later will lead to disruption of the respiratory system.
- The use of various kinds of laxatives threatens the patient with a violation of the heart rhythm and muscle weakness. Hence the deaths, because the heart muscle is not able to provide full blood pumping.
- Overeating with such a disease can lead to rupture of the mucous membrane of all organs of the digestive system. And this can lead to damage to the esophagus, stomach and intestines, which will not have a beneficial effect on the patient's health.
- Violation of the psycho-emotional state. Hence apathy, depression and more serious diseases of the nervous system.
Causes of bulimia
Most ailments of this kind have a lot of prerequisites. Little to know what bulimia is to prevent it. It is necessary to understand what can serve as a stressor for the development of this disease, since this is largely dependent on the choice of therapy and cure for the disease. Otherwise, the effectiveness will be extremely low, if not to determine the true cause of the disease.
The main prerequisites for the development of bulimia include:
- hereditary factor - when one of the relatives was ill with this disease;
- incorrect lifestyle - frequent overeating or vice versa, malnutrition or snacks on the go;
- low self-esteem - bulimia, psychology - this is almost a synonym word, which can characterize the occurrence of this disease;
- overeating on the background of personal experiences;
- prolonged diets, which lead to a breakdown in nutrition;
- the desire to achieve the ideal forms of the body;
- depression;
- a serotonin deficiency;
- increased anxiety.
Bulimia - Symptoms
The main signs and consequences of this disease include:
- Destruction of tooth enamel. When vomiting, a portion of the gastric juice remains in the oral cavity, which leads to the destruction of the teeth.
- Dehydration of the body. These signs of bulimia are characterized by dry mouth and a regular desire for fluid intake.
- Irritation of the mucous throat, which is caused by unpleasant pain in the area of the small tongue.
- Violation of the full performance of the cardiovascular system.
- Violation of the balance of salts and minerals in the body provokes twitching and light cramps of all muscles.
- Regular stool disorder. This is due to the daily use of laxatives.
- Decrease in the functionality of the kidneys and liver, manifested in painful sensations in the area of the location of these organs.
- Internal bleeding, which is manifested by vomiting along with blood clots. In addition, defecation is also accompanied by the release of stool with blood clots.
- Violation of the menstrual cycle.
- Metabolic changes and disorders of the nervous system.
Specialists point out other external signs of the presence of this disease:
- self-criticism;
- an insurmountable sense of guilt for eating food;
- decreased vital activity;
- detachment;
- sharp fluctuations in weight - up to 15 kg.
Consequences of bulimia
Like many other diseases of an identical nature, this ailment has a mass of negative consequences. Bulimia, the consequences for the organism of which can be extremely destructive, are most often irreversible, so watch closely your friends and loved ones, if suddenly they began to lose weight sharply. In most cases, the patient himself rarely recognizes the presence of the disease.
There are several consequences of bulimia:
- arrhythmia;
- kidney failure;
- inflammation of the esophagus;
- anemia;
- dystrophy;
- hypoglycemia;
- atony;
- pancreatitis;
- gastroparesis;
- premature birth, miscarriage.
What is the difference between anorexia and bulimia?
Those who wonder what bulimia is, are surely confused with this anorexia. Yes, these two diseases are forms of eating disorders on the neuro-psychological basis. That's just anorexia and bulimia are two completely different ailments in manifestation and consequences. In the first case, a person deliberately refuses to eat, while in bulimia, the patient is regularly visited by uncontrolled attacks of hunger, which are accompanied by overeating or subsequent forced devastation of the stomach.
Anorexia in most cases leads to complete depletion of the body, and bulimia - does not carry a critical harm to health. In the latter case, the ailment is easily treatable, whereas anorexia in the latter stages is almost impossible to stop, which leads to a fatal outcome, so do not confuse these two diseases.
Types of bulimia
Currently, experts identify the following types of bulimia:
- puberty;
- nervous.
Nervous bulimia
Such a disease, as a rule, affects young people of the age category from 25 to 32 years. Bulimia nervosa is caused by constant stressful situations, huge psychological stresses, depressions, which simply "jam" with a lot of food. Nervous bulimia, the symptoms of which can be very different, threatens with discomfort and disruption of the digestive system. Everything depends on the degree of development of the disease.
Pubertal bulimia
This species, most often, is characteristic of adolescents who have not found understanding both among their peers and among relatives. As a rule, such a phenomenon is characterized by a transitional period, which is accompanied by a violation of the hormonal background. Hence, emotional outbursts, depression, misunderstanding and overly emotional perception of the world around us. Death from bulimia puberty type occurs very rarely, except in cases when a teenager is brought up in a dysfunctional family where he is not paid attention.
How does bulimia affect the psyche?
An abnormal diet sooner or later leads to a worsening of the general condition:
- Bulimia disease manifests itself in the form of chronic fatigue, lack of energy and headaches.
- The decline in forces provokes a decrease in concentration, which leads to inattention, irritation, dispersal and sleep disorders.
- Laxatives, which are used by the patient, can negatively reflect not only on the person's health, but also on his mental state.
- The sense of guilt for overeating begins to underestimate the self-esteem of a person, which pushes him to consciously isolate himself from others.
- Attempts to get out of this unfavorable state with the help of antidepressants, most often, lead to much greater health problems, because not all drugs are suitable for people with bulimia.
How to get rid of bulimia?
Cope with such a disease is much easier than to overcome, for example, anorexia, so if you adhere to the advice of qualified experts, you can literally within a few months become a fully-fledged person, without any mental abnormalities and disturbances in the digestive tract. It is extremely undesirable to engage in self-medication. Only a doctor can correctly diagnose and prescribe competent treatment.
A few tips on how to defeat bulimia:
- Try not to punish yourself for overeating. Accept the situation as a reality. Bulimia attacks, as well as coughing and asthma attacks, are not a cause for shame or consider yourself guilty in this situation.
- Think well of the present meaning of life and decide for yourself whether this is what you really want.
- Show your emotions not with food, but with the help of conversations. Let's do the emotions that have accumulated in your soul. Talk to a loved one.
- Learn to love and respect yourself, because you obviously know how to do something better than others.
- Bring in your life more positive colors. Take care of your favorite business, go more often to the amusement park. There are lots of options for fun activities - you just need to!
How to recover from bulimia?
The process of transition from disease to normal, full-fledged life should be carried out in stages. Life after bulimia means eating a little smaller amounts. So, the portion should not be larger than the size of your palm. Let it be 6 meals a day. It is extremely important at the first stage to give up fatty and high-calorie food. It can be vegetable broths, salads, cereals, croutons, fish and chicken, steamed. And yes, it is extremely important to observe the water balance - not less than 1.5 liters of fluid per day.