Bulimia nervosa is a common and life-threatening eating disorder. About 275,000 Canadian girls and two to three in 100 American women (around 4 million) will have bulimia at some point in their lives. People struggling with bulimia will eat large amounts of food, often secretly, and then prevent weight gain by vomiting, fasting, or exercise.
Most sufferers of bulimia are female. About two percent of them die every decade. And around a fifth of those deaths about are due to suicide. Uncovering the multiple factors leading to bulimia nervosa is therefore very important, especially as the causes are largely unknown.
