Eating Disorder Research

There are two classifications of bulimia.  They are distinguished by the way the bulimic relieves herself or himself of the binge: 1) Purging Symptom The bulimic purges through self-induced vomiting, laxatives, diuretics and enemas. These methods serve as a means of rapidly eliminating the food from their body. 2) Non-Purging Type This type of bulimia is more rare.  In fact, only about 6%-8% of cases fall under here.  This may be because non-purging is viewed as less effective in ridding the body of large amount of calories. This type of bulimia involves engaging in excessive exercise or fasting following a binge.  Doing so would counteract the large amount of calories previously ingested. Excessive exercising and fasting is also frequently observed in the purgers.  But the distinguishing thing is that the purgers do not use these methods as their primary way to lose calories.