Bulimia treatment center at Remuda Ranch
Bulimia Medical Complications
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When a person engages in Bulimia, they binge on huge quantities of food, then purge the food from their bodies. Both of these activities are extremely hard on the human body, since it was never meant to consume that volume of food or experience such a high level of self-induced vomiting. What’s more, laxative abuse often occurs. If these behaviors are practiced over a long period of time, certain medical complications will probably result. These include:
Injury to the esophagus. Repeated vomiting causes Acids and bile from the stomach to irritate and inflame the lining of the esophagus causing a condition known as esophagitis. This is sometimes severe enough to cause scarring and narrowing. In fact, this passageway may become so narrow that food may no longer be able to pass through. Vomiting can also cause in the lining of the esophagus. These tears may bleed a great deal or cause the esophagus to actually rupture. This life-threatening condition requires immediate surgery
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Injury to the stomach. Binge eating and frequent vomiting commonly causes gastritis, an inflammation of the stomach lining.
Injury to the intestines. Laxative abuse is harmful in several ways: it upsets the body’s mineral balance; it leads to dehydration; it damages the lining of the digestive tract; and it burns out the colon. This damage to the muscle and nerves often causes severe constipation.
Lung damage. Self-induced vomiting often leads to aspiration of food particles, gastric acid, and bacteria from the stomach into the lungs. This can result in pneumonia.
Severe Kidney and heart complications. Fasting, vomiting and other forms of purging result in loss of fluid and crucial minerals from the body. Chronic dehydration and low potassium levels can lead to kidney stones and even kidney failure. Frequent vomiting leads to high alkali levels in the blood and body tissues. This may cause weakness, constipation and fatigue. Severe alkalosis and potassium deficiency can lead to an uneven heart rate or sudden death.
Injury to the skin and teeth. Most over-the-counter laxatives contain phenolphthalein, which may cause sores and brown or gray spots on the skin. Chronic vomiting increases the acidity of the mouth and results in erosion of the teeth’s’ enamel and dentin.
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