subject: Treating That Ravenous Hunger [print this page] It was British psychiatrist Gerald Russell who coined the term bulimia nervosa, in 1979. The word originates in Latin blmia which in turn is originally from the Greek word meaning excessive or ravenous hunger. Bulimia Nervosa is one of the more serious of eating disorders. A person affected by this disorder experiences irregular eating habits. The characteristic of this condition is having a period of time where no food is taken, or one restrains from taking food. That period is followed by an interval of excessive ingestion of food. Experts have found this to be a result of guilt feelings or a complex of low self esteem, thus it is more of a sentimental or emotional eating problem. Sufferers are around the age of 18 and mostly women than men. People have been known to overcome their guilt feelings and low self esteem issues with forced vomiting, fasting, excessive eating, over exercising and the use of diuretics/enemas. For Bulimia Nervosa treatment antidepressant drugs are widely used.
The cycles of no-eating and excessive eating repeat themselves until a person or the sufferer is interrupted or the stomach hurts from being full. Such a situation is usually followed by vomiting which is generally self-induced. Severity of bulimia depends on several times a week (mild) to several times a day (severe).This condition is also known to cause several other disorders to which it is big contributing factorChronic GERD or Reflux, Hypokalemia or dehydration due to frequent and/or excessive regurgitation, severe inflammation of the esophagus due to over eating, trauma of the oral lining caused by lacerations to the inside of the mouth and throat due to frequent passage of food, constipation, gastroparesis, infertility, enlargement of the glands in the neck region below the jaw, ulcers (usually peptic), irregular gain and loss of weight etc.
The treatment for bulimia nervosa usually involves psychological counseling and it may not be necessary to take the patient to a hospital as most of the treatment can be done outside. Antidepressant drugs are also employed to treat psychological afflictions that lead to this eating disorder. In severe cases staying in hospital care is required when bulimia causes any of the diseases mentioned formerly. However, regular psychologist visits and sessions in addition with antidepressant drugs have been known to help a patient recover quite effectively. Both are long term treatments and require patience.
