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| Bulimia, Causes, Diagnosis, Treatment, Prevention, Complications |
Bulimia or bulimia nervosa is an eating disorder characterized by a tendency to regurgitate food that has been eaten. Bulimia is a dangerous and potentially life-threatening mental disorder.
Bulimia is commonly experienced by adult women and adolescents who are dissatisfied with their weight or body shape. People with bulimia tend to use unhealthy ways to lose weight, namely by forcibly removing food, either by vomiting or using laxatives.
Forced vomiting of food is the wrong way to lose weight. In order to maintain ideal body weight and shape, do a healthy diet, namely by eating balanced nutritious foods, eating small portions but often, and limiting snacks or high intake of saturated fat.
Causes of Bulimia
The main cause of bulimia is not known with certainty. However, there are several factors that are thought to trigger a person to develop bulimia, namely:
- heredity factor
- If one member of the nuclear family (parents or siblings) suffers or has a history of bulimia, then a person's risk of suffering from the same disorder will increase.
- Emotional and psychological factors
- The risk of bulimia will be higher in someone who suffers from emotional and psychological disorders, such as depression, anxiety disorders, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD).
- Social environmental factors
- Bulimia can arise from the influence of pressure and criticism from those around him regarding eating habits, body shape, or weight.
- job factor
- Some types of work, such as modeling or athletes, require workers to maintain an ideal body weight. These demands can cause the worker to experience depression or bulimia.
Symptoms of Bulimia
The initial symptom of bulimia is the habit of following a strict diet by not eating at all or only eating certain foods in very small amounts.
This condition continues until the sufferer loses control and eats excessively, even though he does not feel hungry. This habit arises because of emotional disorders, such as stress or depression.
This habit will make sufferers feel guilty, regret, and hate themselves. As a result, he attempts to expel all food in unnatural ways, such as using laxatives or forcing himself to vomit.
Other psychological symptoms that can appear in bulimia are:
- Feeling afraid of being fat
- Have a negative perception of your own body weight and shape
- Tend to be aloof and withdraw from the social environment
- Have low self-confidence and anxiety
- Don't want to eat in public or in front of other people
In addition, people with bulimia can also show physical symptoms, such as:
- Body feels weak
- Sore throat
- Stomach pain or bloating
- Swelling in the cheeks and jaw
- Broken teeth and bad breath
When to go to the doctor
Do not hesitate to see a child or family member to a psychiatrist if there are signs that are suspected to be symptoms of bulimia. Symptoms of bulimia are often seen by other people, because sufferers tend to be unaware that they are experiencing bulimia symptoms.
If you or a family member has problems with weight, you should consult a nutritionist. The nutritionist will provide information about the right and healthy way to get the ideal weight. One of them is by adopting a healthy diet.
Bulimia Diagnosis
To determine whether a person has bulimia or not, the doctor will ask questions to the patient and the patient's family. A person is said to have bulimia if he vomits his food once a week for at least 3 months.
The doctor will also check if the patient's teeth are damaged or eroded due to exposure to the acid in the vomit. An eye exam may also be done to see if any of the blood vessels in the eye have burst. This is because when you vomit, the blood vessels will be tense and at risk of bursting.
In addition to examining the patient's teeth and eyes, the doctor will also examine the patient's hands. People with bulimia tend to have small sores and calluses on the top of the finger joints because they are often used to force themselves to vomit.
Not only a physical examination, blood and urine tests are also carried out to detect other conditions that can cause bulimia, and check the impact of bulimia in the body, such as dehydration or electrolyte disturbances. Doctors also perform heart echoes to detect heart problems.
Bulimia Treatment
The main focus of treatment for bulimia is treating mental disorders experienced by patients and improving diet. This treatment effort involves the role of various parties, namely families, psychiatrists, and nutritionists.
There are several treatment methods to treat bulimia, namely:
Psychotherapy
Psychotherapy or counseling aims to assist patients in rebuilding positive attitudes and thoughts towards food and eating patterns. There are two types of psychotherapy that can be done, namely:
- Cognitive behavioral therapy
- Cognitive behavioral therapy aims to help restore the patient's eating patterns, as well as change unhealthy behaviors into healthy ones, and negative thinking patterns into positive ones.
- Interpersonal therapy
- This therapy aims to assist patients in interacting with others, as well as improve the patient's ability to communicate and solve problems.
Drugs
To relieve the symptoms experienced by the patient, the doctor will give fluoxetine. This drug is the type of antidepressant drug that is most often used to treat bulimia, but is not intended for patients under 18 years of age.
Fluoxetine can also relieve depression and anxiety disorders experienced by patients. During treatment with antidepressants, the doctor will periodically monitor the progress of the patient's condition and body reaction to the drug.
Nutrition counseling
Nutrition counseling aims to change diet and mindset towards food, increase nutrient intake in the body, and increase body weight slowly.
If the symptoms of bulimia get worse or are accompanied by serious complications, then intensive treatment in a hospital needs to be done. This step needs to be done to prevent the fatal consequences of complications, such as suicide.
Bulimia treatment takes a long time. Support from friends, family, and closest relatives is very important in the patient's healing process.
Complications of Bulimia
Bulimia can cause malnutrition which can damage organ systems in the body. In addition, bulimia can cause the sufferer to become dehydrated due to too much fluid that comes out through vomiting.
Bulimia can also lead to complications that are serious and can be fatal if not treated immediately. Some of the complications that can arise are:
- Heart disease, such as arrhythmia or heart failure
- Kidney failure
- Mallory-Weiss syndrome, which is tearing of the inner wall of the esophagus due to too much vomiting
- Depression or generalized anxiety disorder
- Drug or alcohol abuse
- An urge to commit suicide
People with bulimia who are pregnant are also at high risk for complications during pregnancy, such as miscarriage, premature birth, birth defects in the fetus, and postpartum depression.
Bulimia Prevention
The steps to prevent bulimia are not known with certainty until now. However, the role of family and friends can help steer people with bulimia toward healthier behaviors.
Ways that can be done are:
- Increase self-confidence by giving each other motivation to always live healthy every day
- Avoiding conversations that are related to the physical or that affect the patient's psychology, for example, his body is too thin or fat, and his face is not beautiful
- Invite family members to always eat together
- Ban on unhealthy diets, such as using laxatives or forcing yourself to vomit
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