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Anorexia Vs Bulimia

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Eating disorders such as anorexia or bulimia cause dramatic weight fluctuation, interfere with normal daily life, and can permanently affect their health.Generally, eating disorders involve self-critical, negative thoughts and feelings about body weight and food, and eating habits that disrupt normal body function and daily activities. People with anorexia have an extreme fear of weight gain and a distorted view of their body size and shape. As a result, they strive to maintain a very low body weight. Some restrict their food intake by dieting, fasting, or excessive exercise. People with anorexia try to eat as little as possible, and take in as few calories as they can, frequently obsessing over food intake. Bulimia is characterized by habitual binge eating and purging.

Some research suggests that media images contribute to the rise in the incidence of eating disorders. Most celebrities in advertising, movies, TV, and sports programs are very thin, and this may lead girls to think that the ideal of beauty is extreme thinness. …show more content…

Both disorders can involve compulsive exercise or other forms of purging food eaten, such as by self-induced vomiting or laxative use. Although anorexia and bulimia are very similar, people with anorexia are usually very thin and underweight but those with bulimia may be a normal weight or even overweight. With anorexia, the body goes into starvation mode and the lack of nutrition can cause a drop in blood pressure, pulse, and breathing rate,hair loss and fingernail breakage, loss of periods, lanugo hair, lightheadedness and inability to concentrate, anemia, swollen joints, brittle bones. With bulimia, frequent vomiting and lack of nutrients can cause constant stomach pain, damage to the stomach and kidneys, tooth decay, loss of periods, loss of the mineral potassium which can contribute to heart problems and even

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