Bulimia can be described as a disorder whereby the sufferer binge-eats and then uses some extreme measures such as vomiting to try and rid the body of the food eaten to prevent any weight gain. The symptoms of bulimia include a detrimental focus on weight or body shape, a sense of being unable to control food amounts eaten, taking laxatives or throwing up after eating (especially large amounts), and exercising to the extreme.

Bulimia

Individuals who are bulimic often go through cycles of weight loss and weight gain and can suffer from depression, dehydration, fatigue, anxiety, damage to the gums and/or teeth and persistent diarrhea. There is also the chance of developing problems with the bowels or kidney’s.

Bulimia is a disorder that is very often linked to stress, a low self esteem and emotional issues. It is generally thought to be more common than anorexia but at the same time is less noticeable because individuals who suffer from it usually remain at their average body weight. This is why the condition can go unnoticed for a long period of time.

Gender and the sexual orientation of an individual have been found to be linked to whether someone has an eating disorder.

People with personality disorders may have conditions such as not being able to live with others, not being able to maintain relationships with other people, finding it difficult to control emotions or upsetting other people when distressed.

Causes of personality disorders can include genetic makeup, mental or emotional state or brain problems. There are three types of personality disorder: suspicious, emotional and impulsive, and anxious.

Suspicious personality disorders are where the sufferer is often paranoid of other people, and finds it difficult to interact with others, preferring their own company instead.  The person with a suspicious personality disorder is often seen by others as strange or peculiar.

Emotional and impulsive personality disorders are where the sufferer is indifferent to other people’s feelings and can be quite aggressive.  They often find it difficult to control emotions and will do this spontaneously without thinking about the consequences.  Sufferers will also self harm if they feel really bad about themselves.

Anxious personality disorders are where the sufferer worries about everything.  They are very indecisive and worry constantly about doing the wrong thing.  Anxious sufferers are overly sensitive to criticism and can often feel worthless or incompetent.

There are therapies which can help such as psychotherapy or cognitive behavioral therapy.  There is also medication available to help with the different groups of personality disorders.  Antipsychotic drugs can help those in the suspicious group while antidepressants can help to relieve the symptoms of those in the emotional group.  There are also some antidepressants which have been shown to help those in the anxious group such as serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRI).

Personality Disorders

Swine flu is a disease that affects pigs and is a highly contagious type of respiratory disease caused by a version of the influenza A virus. Typically, swine flu is of the subtype designated as H1N1, and this is also the subtype that is currently affecting humans.

H1N1 Swine Flu Virus

Although swine flu normally affects pigs, it can sometimes jump to a different species, which is what has happened with humans. Symptoms of swine flu are, on the whole, very similar to normal seasonal influenza outbreaks in humans and can range between no symptoms at all or very mild symptoms, to severe and even fatal pneumonia. Because these symptoms are similar to the normal flu symptoms, swine flu is almost impossible to distinguish from normal flu, unless specifically looked for by a doctor.

Humans can catch swine flu either by contact with pigs that are infected, which is the most common way, and contact with humans that are infected, which is less common. For human to human infection to occur, very close contact needs to occur between the two parties.

Swine Flu Symptoms

The symptoms of swine flu in humans is very similar to normal influenza symptoms, as mentioned above, and these can be aches, chills, coughing, diarrhea, headache, sore throat, fever, fatigue and vomiting. Most previous cases of swine flu in humans has cleared up without any medical assistance, but there are a couple of drugs that are successful in treating the condition – adamantanes and inhibitors of influenza neuraminidase.