Bulimia

• Bulimia Overview
• Bulimia Causes
• Bulimia Symptoms
• When to Seek Medical Care
• Exams and Tests
• Bulimia Treatment
• Self-Care at Home
• Medical Treatment
• Next Steps
• Follow-up
• Prevention
• Outlook
• Synonyms and Keywords
• Authors and Editors
• Related Bulimia articles:
  Bulimia - on WebMD
  Bulimia - on MedicineNet

Bulimia Overview

Bulimia is an eating disorder. Someone with bulimia might binge on food and then vomit (also called purge) in a cycle of binging and purging. Binge eating refers to quickly eating large amounts of food over short periods of time. Purging involves forced vomiting, laxative use, excessive exercise, or fasting in an attempt to lose weight that might be gained from eating food or binging.

The strict medical definition used by the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-IV) requires 2 binge-eating episodes a week for at least 3 months to make the diagnosis, but it's likely that some people with symptoms of bulimia may not fit these exact criteria.

A person with bulimia often feels a loss of control over their eating as well as guilt over their behavior. They are usually aware that their behavior is abnormal. Bulimia is most common in adolescent and young adult women. People with bulimia are often of normal or near-normal weight, which makes them different from people with anorexia (another eating disorder in which the person does not eat).