Bulimia is similar to anorexia nervosa in that the personwith bulimia is also obsessed with dieting, being thin and has a terror offatness. The main difference is that the bulimic woman does not starve asanorexic women do, but overeats or binges. After bingeing, she will purgeherself of the food by deliberately vomiting or taking laxatives. Bulimia, likeanorexia can have serious physiological consequences. Constant vomiting mayupset the electrolyte balance of the body and cause potassium loss, which canlead to fainting and even heart attacks.
Laxative abuse can result in problems such as kidney failureand water on the lungs. It has been found that some people may be primarilyanorexic, but that they also force themselves to vomit or take laxatives whenthey do t. Similarly, some bulimics may go through periods of starvation, whichmay be followed by a binge. Therefore, the two problems are not very distinct,and sufferers may have symptoms of both.
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