Eating Disorders

Joshua Sparkman, Journalist

   Eating disorders affect millions of people around the world. There are many types of eating disorders but bulimia and binge eating are the most common.

  People with bulimia binge eat, then take steps to avoid weight gain, such as vomiting. It can also mean excessive exercising or fasting. Bulimia is life-threatening but treatable through counseling. Eating disorders are characterized by episodes of eating large portions of food beyond the point of feeling full.

  The warning signs and symptoms of binge eating disorder include stealing and hoarding food in strange places such as in the couch or a tissue box. Feelings of low self-esteem, feelings of disgust about themselves, depression, or guilt after overeating, stomach cramps, other non-specific stomach or intestine complaints, frequent diets, showing extreme concern with body weight and shape, lacking control over ability to stop eating, and the person appearing uncomfortable when eating around others.

  Most people with binge eating disorder are overweight or obese. Unlike a person with bulimia, after a binge, you don’t regularly compensate for extra calories eaten by vomiting, using medicines to make you go to the bathroom, or exercising excessively. The severity of binge-eating disorder is determined by how often binge episodes occur during a week.

  The emotional and behavioral symptoms of bulimia include: skipping meals or taking small portions of food at regular meals, drinking excessive amounts of water or non-caloric beverages, using excessive amounts of mouthwash, mints, and gum, hiding body with baggy clothes, showing unusual swelling of cheeks or jaw area, teeth discoloring or staining.

  The physical symptoms of bulimia include: noticeable fluctuations in body weight, both up and down, dizziness, fainting, feeling cold all the time, dental problems, such as enamel erosion, cavities, and tooth sensitivity, dry skin, dry and brittle nails, swelling around area of salivary glands, muscle weakness, menstrual irregularities, poor wound healing, and impaired immune function.

  The recurrent binge-and-purge cycles of bulimia can affect the entire digestive system and can lead to major problems in the body that affect the heart and other major organ functions.

  The body generally is resilient at coping with the stress of behaviors that come with eating disorders,  and laboratory tests can generally appear perfect even as someone is at high risk of death. Electrolyte imbalances can be caused by prolonged vomiting and can kill without warning, as well as cardiac arrest. It’s incredibly important to understand the many ways that eating disorders affect the body.

  Eating disorders affect your body in many ways, they are curable so if you have one you should seek help on one of these websites, www.nationaleatingdisorders.org or www.mayoclinic.org.