The Bulimia nervosa reference article from the English Wikipedia on 24-Apr-2004 (provided by Fixed Reference: snapshots of Wikipedia from wikipedia.org)

Bulimia nervosa

Bulimia nervosa, more commonly known as bulimia, is a psychological condition in which the subject engages in recurrent binge eating followed by intentionally doing one or more of the following in order to compensate for the intake of the food and prevent weight gain:

• vomiting
• inappropriate use of laxatives, enemas, diuretics or other medication
• excessive exercising
• fasting

A person is classified as bulimic when he or she feels incapable of controlling the urge to binge, even during the binge itself, when he or she consumes a larger amount of food than a person would normally consume at one sitting, and when such behavior occurs at least twice per week for three months.

Bulimia is a pathology having to do with body image and the desperate desire to appear thin. The majority of bulimic patients are young females from 10 to 30 years old, although the disorder can occur in people of all ages and both sexes.

See also...

• anorexia nervosa
• binge eating disorder

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