Long Term Effects of Bulimia Nervosa.

Bulimia affects different organs. And the longer you have bulimia the more organs get affected and damaged.

The organs that suffer the most are: heart, kidney, brain, digestive system, bones, skin and endocrine glands.

The heart gets damaged from the constant electrolyte imbalances caused by continuous purging and becomes weaker the longer the bulimia continues. Some people even can die from this complication when a weak heart goes into a "heart block". This is when the heart suddenly stops beating due to extremely low potassium or other mineral deficiency induced by vomiting and laxatives abuse.

Kidney damage is very common among long term bulimics. The kidneys are organs that normally correct mineral abnormalities in the body. But when a person's mineral balance is constantly disturbed, like in case of bulimia, the kidneys are under enormous strain to correct it and eventually they get damaged.

The brain suffers also from the moment bulimia starts. People have distorted thought patterns like depression and anxiety. The longer bulimia goes on for the stronger the addiction to binging and purging becomes. The long time effects of brain damage from bulimia are: suicidal thoughts, self-cutting and other self-harm symptoms. Impulsive behavior can occur and people can become less responsible for their action.

The digestive system also gets affected badly. The stomach experience delays in empting its food content and people suffer from pains in the abdominal area, bloating, acid reflux, stomach ulcers and esophageal problems.

In long standing bulimia cases sufferers loose the feeling of being hungry or full. Sometimes their taste distorts which makes them eat strange combinations of food or experience cravings (for example craving to eat very salty or sour things).

The bones become weak due to the development of low bones density after many years of suffering from bulimia. People can and do complain about their bone's aching plus they have lots of pain and the bones can break from even minimal strain or pressure.

Skin looses its youthful look even at a relatively young age. Dry skin, inflammation of the skin, abnormal irritation and ongoing pimples are common problems for bulimics.
Hair loss due to mineral and protein depletion is inevitable in long term bulimia.

The endocrine glands eventually stop working properly and produce fewer hormones than the body needs: this makes a person age quickly and loose muscle tone.

Menstruation becomes irregular or stops and because of this a woman is unable to conceive and have a baby.

To sum up, the long term effects of bulimia nervosa can be extremely dangerous. And treatment for this disorder becomes more complicated the longer it goes on.
The best way is to prevent these dangerous effects from happening is to treat the disease sooner rather than later.

The best thing is to start educating yourself and your family about what to do and what to change at home to help the sufferer. Home and family support are proven to be the best way of treating this condition. But it has to be the right help and the right support. To learn more about it go to http://bulimia-cure.com

Herbal Birth Control.

Herbs have been used to control fertility for as long as there have been women who desired to do so. Our desire is as great as ever, but our knowledge base is far from large or strong. This article is both a sharing of what I know, and an open ear to hear what you know. May we reweave the healing cloak of the Ancients?

Many herbs have been used to minimize fertility, and modern scientific research has proved contraception effects in at least some of the herbs tested. Herbal birth control methods may never reach the level of contraceptive protection as the pill, but it offers alternatives for women who have difficulty with modern contraceptive options or who just want to try a different way.

Herbal birth control is most effective when combined with knowledge of your fertility cycles, selective abstinence, mental control, and barriers to sperm. You may choose herbs to cause temporary or permanent sterility, to prevent implantation of a fertilized egg, to bring on a late menstrual flow, or to empty the uterus if you believe that conception has taken place.

Each herb has to be taken in its own way. Some herbs are taken daily, while others are used on as needed bases, after potential exposure to sperm during a fertile time. Normally, herbs that are taken daily need some time to take effect, an alternative method of birth control should be used during the waiting period to provide protection.


If you choose to use herbal contraceptives you do so at your own risk because generally herbs contraception has lower contraception power than pills. But for some people who can not take modern contraceptives it could be the only choice.

"Temporary Sterility" Herbs include: Alum Root, Antelope Sage, Blessed Thistle, Blue Cohosh, Deer's Tongue, Desert Mallow, Dogbane, Geranium Root, Groomwell, Holy Thistle, Indian Paintbrush, Indian Turnip, Juniper, Milkween, Poverty Weed, Ragleaf Bahia, Thistle, Wild Geranium, Wild Ginger, Wild Yam.

"Permanent Sterility" herbs include: False Hellebore, False Solomon's Seal, Indian Turnup, Piri Piri, Spotted Cowbane, Stoneseed.

Herbal Implantation Preventers

Herbs which prevent the implantation of a fertilized egg do so safely and relatively painlessly by making the endometrium unsuitable for the growth of the embryo. They are taken before or after the unprotected fertilizing intercourse. Positive results are indicated by a normal menstrual flow at the normal time. Women say that when they have used these herbs their flow has been somewhat heavier and has contained more clots than usual, circumstantial evidence of a pregnancy that didn't take. As there's been no controlled study of possible side effects from long and regular use of these herbs, they should be used on a monthly basis. No known side effects accompany occasional use.

Wild Carrot seed
Rutin
Smartweed leaves
Queen Anne's lace (Daucus carota)
Rue (Ruta graveolens)
Buckwheat (Fagopyrum esculentum)
Elder (several varietals of the elder tree)
Smartweed leaves (Polygonum hydropiper)

Uterine Contractors (oxytocin)
Birth root (Trillium pendulum); caution, do not use Aristolochia (birthwort)
• Blue cohosh (Caulophyllum thalictroides)
• Cotton root bark (Gossypium)
• Dosages, cautions

I would recommend using this information for information purposes only because there is still no scientific data and /or research confirming these methods work.
If you want to try it, you do it on your own risk.

Dr Irina Webster

Effects of Bulimia Nervosa

Effects of bulimia can be divided into long term and short term side effects. Also you can then subdivide the side effects of bulimia to correspond with the system or the organs bulimia affects: e.g. psychological problems, mental, gastro-intestinal, cardio-vascular system, kidney, skin, bones and hormonal problems.

Now, let’s look precisely at each of them separately.

First of all bulimia affects the sufferer psychologically. Some would say that psychological problems are the culprits that lead to bulimia and it is why people get bulimia in the first place.
So, what kind of psychological problems are common in most bulimia sufferers? Here the list of most common ones: poor body image, out of control feelings, depression, anxiety, unable to eat with others , constantly thinking about food (even dreaming about it), avoidance of other people, mood changes. It is also not uncommon for bulimics to have different kinds of addiction as well, like alcohol, drugs, smoking etc. Being prone to an addictive nature is one of psychological traits of bulimics.

Mental effects of bulimia can include poor concentration, loss of memory, irritability and luck of coping strength and strategies.
Gastro-intestinal tract can also be affected badly especially in long-standing bulimia cases. These include problems with food digestions, constant reflux, stomach ulcers, aches and pains in the abdominal area, bloating, and esophageal problems.
Teeth get damaged from the ongoing contact with stomach acid. Salivary glands get enlarged as they need to work hard to cope with regular vomiting.
Bulimia effects on cardio-vascular system are irregular heart beats, possible heart blocks, and broken small blood vessels. Long standing bulimia can cause weakening of the heart muscle and weakening of major blood vessels of the body.
Kidney’s can be damaged due to electrolytes deficiency caused by constant vomiting. In long standing cases of bulimia kidney disease is a high possibility.
Skin and bones get damaged mostly in long standing bulimia cases. Bulimics often have dry and cold to touch skin as body temperature decreases the longer one has bulimia. Osteoporosis can be a side effect of bulimia for those who have it for many years.
Hormonal irregularities appear to be obvious in long-standing and short-standing bulimia. People complain of menstrual problems due to estrogens insufficiency. Adrenal glands can slow down producing hormones causing sleepiness, weakness of the whole body, lethargy and inactivity. Ovaries start producing inadequate amount of sex hormones which can cause problems with conserving and carrying pregnancy full term. Infertility, miscarriages, and low sex drive – all these problems could be relevant to long term bulimics.
And another important bulimia effect is immune system damage: it can occur after a few years of bulimia. People’s reaction to a suppressed immune system can be having frequent colds, flu, tonsillitis or other infections anywhere in the body. Immune system damage could be a consequence of severe vitamins and mineral deficiency experienced by bulimics.
To sum it all up, bulimia has a number of dangerous side effects on the human body. Some of them appear sooner, some appear later as the disease progresses. It is important for anyone who has bulimia to stop the progression of their bulimia and don’t let the severe effects of bulimia appear in the first place. By educating yourself about the effects of bulimia you can avoid the dangerous long-term problems associated with this disease. For one of the best educational sources on how to avoid long-term bulimia effects you can go to:
Dr Irina Webster MD.
http://www.eatingdisorder-cure.com

Homeopathy for infertility in New York.

Homeopathy is a growing field for infertility problems. More and more people everyday is looking for infertility help in homeopathy clinics. In New York the number of homeopathy clinics that work with infertile patients is increasing every month. And the reason for it is an increasing demand for homeopathic treatment among women looking to get pregnant.

According to the data from one survey in New York 64% of women prefer to see a homeopath or other natural health practitioner for their infertility problem first before they see a Gynecologist.

This data shows that women in New York have a lot of trust in homeopathic treatment regarding infertility concerns. They prefer to try alternative and natural treatment first and only if it does not work, they go for the more invasive treatment offered by modern medical practitioners.

So, what do women get when they go to homeopathic clinics? What kind of treatment do they offer? Is it helpful for specific forms of infertility only or many different causes?

After talking on the phone with one of a New York Homeopath I found out that homeopathy can be used for the treatment of a variety of infertility causes and it can be helpful for male and female types of infertility.

Homeopathy is an alternative form of infertility treatment and it is effective because it improves overall health, including reproductive health.

For female infertility, for example, the following remedies proved to be the most helpful:

Sepia 6c – this remedy is helpful to treat irregular or absent ovulation.

Aurum – this one is used when low sex drive and depression are the cause of infertility.

Sabina 6c –is helpful to treat recurrent miscarriage.

Phosphorus – for relieving anxiety and stress, which contribute to infertility problem.

Lycopodium - might be of help to women suffering from dry vagina or tenderness in their lower abdomen.

Silica – is good for improving overall health to increase your chances to get pregnant. Also it improves immune system for people who often get sick.

Viburnum opulus (30C) – can be very good for women with endometriosis to help them get pregnant.

Alternatively, you can use homeopathy for treatment of male infertility. The well known remedies are:

Medorrhinum – is used to treat impotence.

Sepia 6c – is used to improve low sex drive in men.

Agnus castus – is helpful if problems with impotence develop after a period of intense sexual activity for many years. Men who need agnus castus are normally very anxious about their health and loss of sexual abilities.

Calcarea 30c – helps to increase sperm count.

Lycopodium – helps with erection problems especially for men who worry a lot and have lack of self-confidence.

These are only a few homeopathic remedies which can be used for problems related to infertility. But it shows that homeopathy looks at the whole person and considers the cause of conception difficulties and treats that cause. It often removes the blocks to conception and leads the way to a healthy, natural pregnancy.

Homeopathic clinics in New York offer a great range of alternative treatments for infertility problems. Homeopathic remedies appeared to be very helpful and suit most people. The rule in homeopathy is to prescribe by symptoms rather than conditions, as each case of a particular illness can manifest differently in different people. This makes homeopathy stand out from all other infertility treatments and make it very popular amongst New York women.
For more information read http://www.youcanovercomeinfertility.com

Media and influence on women body image.

It has become obvious now that the media advertises and promotes a very unhealthy trend of extreme dieting and other bad eating habits to women. Most of media sources put on their covers images of skinny emancipated females. Doing this they influence the subconscious mind of the masses. And women continue to spend their money trying to achieve this unattainable look they constantly see in media advertising.
To try and solve this problem let’s answer the next questions. 1. What is body image? 2. What kind of trends in the media industry are we noticing now? 3. How do the media influence our perception of body image? 4. What could be the reasons behind this? 5. What are the consequences of this kind of trend? 6. What are some real suggestions on how to improve your body image?
Your body image is how you perceive, think and feel about your body. This may have no bearing at all on your actual appearance. For instance, it is common in Western nations for women to believe they are larger and fatter than they really are. Only one in five women is satisfied with their body weight. Nearly half of all normal weight women overestimate their size and shape. A distorted body image can lead to self-destructive behavior, like dieting or eating disorders. Approximately nine out of 10 young Australian women have dieted at least once in their lives.
So, the basic trend in the media industry at the moment is to promote slim, even skinny unnatural looking women’s bodies as being beautiful.
Women of all ages but especially young women look at magazines, TV, movies and other media products full of images that show skinny women’s bodies. And these are perceived by the subconscious mind of young women as being a role model to follow and aspire to be like. Achieving this skinny look does not come naturally; it inevitably leads to practicing some kind of dieting, excessive exercising or abnormal eating behaviors.
Twenty years ago, the average model weighed 8 per cent less than the average woman—but today’s models weigh 23 per cent less. Advertisers believe that thin models sell products. When the Australian magazine New Woman recently included a picture of a heavy-set model on its cover, it received a truckload of letters from grateful readers praising the move. But its advertisers complained and the magazine returned to featuring bone-thin models.
What could be the reason behind all this? Why has this fashion trend occurred now? Why are standards of beauty being imposed on women, the majority of whom are naturally larger than any of the models?
The reasons for this according to some analysts, is an economic one. By presenting an ideal look which is difficult to achieve and maintain the cosmetic and diet product industries are assured of growth and profits. It is estimated that the diet industry alone is worth $100 billion (U.S.) a year. This is a lot of money and certainly worth their while to continue to foster emancipated women as being the norm.
And the consequences of this trend are huge. On the one hand, women who are insecure about their bodies are more likely to buy beauty products, new clothes, and diet pills or other diet supplies.
On the other hand, research indicates that exposure to images of thin, young, air-brushed female bodies is linked to depression, loss of self-esteem and the development of unhealthy eating habits in women and girls.
The level of eating disorders like anorexia and bulimia are increasing rapidly every year. It is estimated that around 5 per cent of women and 1 percent of men have an eating disorders like anorexia or bulimia or binge eating some time in their life.
And about 15 per cent of all young women have significantly distorted eating attitudes and behavior that can lead to developing anorexia or bulimia in the near future.
So, what would be some real suggestions on how to improve your body image without resorting to unhealthy eating habits?
The First one is to change your goal from weight loss to just improving your health. Second, is to focus more the internal beauty like improving your self-esteem, self-confidence and internal strengths of your character. Get informed by reading up on body image issues and self-improvement books. And give yourself a break from women’s magazines and the mass media advertising for a while if you feel you maybe prone to this kind of false perceptions.
To sum up, the media does impact on women’s body image significantly and it can affect women’s physical and mental health in a negative way. And the only way to stop these negative effects coming from the media is to teach women not to judge themselves by the beauty industry's standards and learn not to compare themselves to the cover girls. And also it is important to promote a healthy life style with emphasis on internal beauty like improving self-esteem and self-confidence. Not on being a stick like model.
http://www.eatingdisorder-cure.com

Cause of Bulimia Nervosa.

Cause of Bulimia Nervosa.

Bulimia is one of the most rapidly increasing psychological problems around nowadays. But what causes bulimia? Is it an extreme response to Western society’s pressure on young girls and women to be slim?
Or are there other factors contributing to the problem?
Can we influence these factors and change their effects on people?

Genetic, environmental, biological are all common factors that have to be looked at when we talk about the causes of any diseases or disorders.

Let’s look at these things in the case of Bulimia.

Scientific research recently has shown that people are born with an inherited predisposition towards developing bulimia, particularly where susceptibility to addiction is in the genes. It reveals that bulimics inherit a gene responsible for the addiction from their ancestors. This addiction can appear in different forms: alcohol addiction, drug addiction, food addiction, nicotine and the like. That’s why many bulimics also suffer from addictions to other substances also, making recovery difficult.

So a genetic predisposition to bulimia may be there but it is not a single bulimia gene itself that is the culprit but a general addiction gene. And in many bulimic families we can trace backwards to past members of the family who suffered from other kinds of addiction in their lives.

But on the other hand not all people who get an addiction gene suffer from bulimia or other addictions. So we have to look at other things like environmental factors.

Environmental factors can contribute to triggering the onset of bulimia. These include peer pressures, family attitudes, the influence of the media creating a need for thinness, poor self-esteem and a lack of acceptance of self and body shape.

Bulimia often begins with a dissatisfaction of the person's body. The individual may actually be underweight, but when that person looks in a mirror they see a distorted image and feel heavier than they really are. At first, this distorted body image leads to dieting. As the body image in the mirror continues to be seen as larger than it actually is, the dieting escalates and leads to bulimia. The bottom line however, is that bulimia is the misuse of food to try to resolve emotional problems. When a person is unable to face their feelings, define problems, and resolves them effectively, that person is more prone to become susceptible to the onset of bulimia.

A significant correlation between the development of clinical bulimia nervosa and sexual abuse has also been proven. Other forms of abuse (physical, emotional or combination of both of them) also link to developing of dissatisfaction with the person’s body that can lead to bulimia any time in the future.

Strict and cold parental attitude and luck of showing love to children from parents can become a trigger for developing a wrong body image in children that can turn into bulimia in susceptible people. That is why you should never tease your child if they are a little bit over weight as this could just be a normal growing process for that child’s body shape. But a wrong word from a parent or family member may inadvertently send that person down the track to bulimia.

The next factor which can cause bulimia is biological or biochemical factor. This happens when one or a few biological processes in the human body have gone off track. Some research has shown that an insufficiency of a special hormone in the brain called serotonin can cause depression and bulimia at the same time. This is probably why many bulimics also suffer from depression.
Some antidepressants that work on restoring the level of serotonin in the brain can help some sufferers stop their binges while taking them. This could also mean that many sufferers, who manage to stop their bulimia for a short while, go back to binging again when they stop the antidepressants.

Anyone who has been on antidepressants and has stopped should look for other supplements where they can substitute the loss of serotonin; I believe you can get serotonin in the health food stores in capsules form. Although taking serotonin on its own will not automatically stop your bulimia, as it is a much deeper psychological problem that a single chemical imbalance: but it would not hurt either.

As you can see, many factors can contribute to the development of bulimia. For some sufferers it is the environmental factors that come into play, like desire to be thin, peer pressure to be thin or influence from the media to be thin. Some people may have a strong genetic influence that can be traced to past relatives who may have suffered from bulimia or other addictions.

Depressed sufferers will blame their low serotonin level in the brain for their bulimia. But the majority of people probably have a combination of factors that has caused their bulimia.

In conclusion, the causes of bulimia could be many: genetic, biological and environmental. So far we can’t change the genes we are born with but we can manage to control certain behaviors brought on by defective genes, with the correct methods.

To change biological factors like low serotonin levels in the brain, it is possible with certain drugs or supplementation, but it does not work for everyone. The only bulimia factor we can change easily is the environmental factor. This includes changing our attitude to body image, our perception of real beauty and our eating habits.

By promoting a healthy environment we can eradicate or significantly diminish one of the main causes of bulimia - the environmental factor. The other causes can also be controlled if we are aware of their existence.

Eating Disorders and Prozac

Eating Disorders and Prozac.

Prozac is the most common prescribed medication for eating disorders.
There are many opinions about the treatment of eating disorders with Prozac.

Some people say that Prozac was useful for them to fight their eating disorders. But many people report it didn’t make any difference in how they felt and even created more health problems than they had before taking it.

Why is it that some people get benefits from this medication and some do not? And should Prozac really be a first line medication for eating disorders?

First, let’s look at the reasons why Prozac as an eating disorder treatment could be effective.
Prozac is an antidepressant. And since up to half of eating disorders sufferers have an additional psychological disorder such as depression or obsessive-compulsive disorder, Prozac can help a sufferer by treating these disorders.

Also, Prozac is designed to restore and maintain healthy levels of a brain chemical called serotonin, which controls mood, feelings and appetite. So, by controlling mood, feelings and appetite Prozac makes a sufferer feel better and more in control.

So what is the other side to the use of this drug?

Not all people who have an eating disorder suffer from depression or have other emotional problems. So, if people take Prozac just to restore and maintain their serotonin level in their brain they develop resistance to the drug and need a higher and higher dose of Prozac as time goes by.

Then if they stop the medication or decrease the dose they simply slip back to their old eating habits straight away and can also suffer debilitating withdrawal symptoms.

The question arises: how can we make the use of this medication more effective for more people?

Most conventional health care professionals believe that the most effective approach is an integrated treatment strategy: one that uses a combination of Prozac treatment with active counseling to treat an eating disorder. But any counseling treatment should include active self-help, self-education and family therapy.

The problem is many people although on Prozac, fail to control their eating disorder while on their own after returning from the therapist or the clinic, so slip backwards.

People should not think that they can simply walk into a doctor's office and be given a pill and that is the end of it; where suddenly the eating disorder disappears overnight.
This is a sure fire remedy for failure.

If you have been prescribed a pill (like Prozac); you should immediately seek out more education and psychological help regarding your disorder. You have to develop good strategies of self-control, self-evaluation and self-presentation. Without mastering all of these strategies you will always slip back to old eating habits despite the help of Prozac.

Self-help and self-education are important as they teach the sufferer to act while on their own at home, as the eating disorder lives with you at home and not in the doctor’s office.

I suggest you start your self-education and self-help by reading books. One of the best books about eating disorder management and treatment is at www.mom-please-help.com

To conclude, it is fair to say that Prozac can be very helpful for some eating disorder sufferers, especially for those who combine it with an active behavioral treatment.

But there are many others who will not benefit from it at all: due to individual specifics, wrong consumption or other reasons.

So learning more about the disorder and seeking other ways to improve yourself could be the right way to win against your eating disorder.

Dr Irina Webster MD.