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Eating Disorders


Bulimia can appear at any age ranging from early adolescence to the age of forty, but it is more commonly seen as clinically serious during late adolescence. Bulimia is not considered as dangerous to a person's health as anorexia, but it also has many detrimental effects on the body. Bulimia commonly causes fatigue and general weakness, constipation, bloating, swollen salivary glands, erosion of dental enamel and sore throat due to vomiting, dehydration, a loss of potassium, and tearing of the esophageal lining.
             Binge eating disorder is bulimia nervosa, but without the compensatory behaviors. A person just partakes in massive amounts of eating, but does not induce vomiting, exercise, or use any other type of intentional weight loss. Binge eating often overlaps with anorexia in that the victim starves herself between rapidly gaining weight a few times a week. .
             Since all three of these disorders often overlap in the occurrence and usage by victims, they all share similar causes. One category of potential causes of these disorders is genetics. Eating disorders have been observed to run in families especially between sisters, mothers, and twins. Also, it has been suggested that eating disorders are a result of hormones and neurotransmitters in individual's bodies that regulate the activities of food intake and energy output. Another theory is that they may be caused by endorphins in the body. These are opiate like substances that have been discovered in high amounts in the spinal fluid of anorexic patients. Also, anorexia has been linked to the possible cause of excessive physical activity. .
             Another category of potential causes of eating disorders is that they are caused by psychological factors. Patients with anorexia often use starvation as a form of self-punishment, referred to as rigidity. This theory is that in order to restore a sense of order to their life, the patient restricts food to herself in order to feel that she still controls a certain aspect of life.


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