Interdisciplinary Care
Dr. Kraus works closely with a team of dental specialists as well as plastic surgeons, dermatologists and physicians to offer our patients complete care.
Currently he is happy to be working with the Center For Living connecting the effects of Bulimia with dental health.
Listen to Dr. Kraus discuss the challenges faced by our youth today, click here.
Bulimia
Bulimia nervosa is a serious, potentially life-threatening eating disorder. People with bulimia (bu-LEE-me-uh) nervosa may binge and purge, eating large amounts of food and then trying to get rid of the extra calories in an unhealthy way. For example, someone with bulimia nervous may force themselves to vomit or do excessive exercise.
If you have bulimia nervosa, you are probably preoccupied with your weight and body shape, and may judge yourself severely and harshly for your self-perceived flaws.
Because it's related to self-image - and not just about food - bulimia nervosa can be difficult to overcome. But effective bulimia nervosa treatment can help you feel better about yourself, adopt healthier eating patterns and reverse serious complications.
Symptoms
- Feeling that you can't control your eating behavior
- Eating until the point of discomfort or pain
- Eating much more food in a binge episode than in a normal meal or snack
- Forcing yourself to vomit after eating
- Exercising excessively
- Misuse of laxatives, diuretics or enemas
- Being preoccupied with your body shape and weight
- Having a distorted, excessively negative body image
- Going to the bathroom after eating or during meals
- Abnormal bowel functioning
- Damaged teeth and gums
- Swollen salivary glands in the cheeks
- Sores in the throat and mouth
- Dehydration
- Irregular heartbeat
- Sores, scars or calluses on the knuckles or hands
- Menstrual irregularities or loss of menstruation (amenorrhea)
- Depression
- Anxiety
When you have bulimia, you may regularly vomit or exercise excessively after binge eating. Sometimes, however, people with bulimia feel a need to purge after eating only a small snack or a normal-size meal.
A binge is considered eating a larger amount of food than most people would eat under similar situations. For instance, when you have bulimia, you may eat an entire cake, rather than just a slice or two. And you may continue eating until you're painfully full.
Binges often occur in private. Once the binge episode ends, the purging begins. This may mean heading to the bathroom to vomit, hitting the treadmill for hours of exercise, or not eating for long periods of time (fasting). Because most people with bulimia are of normal weight or even slightly overweight, it may not be readily apparent to others that something is wrong.