Can Older Women Have Bulimia?

QUESTION: You recently wrote an answer about an eating disease called
bulimia. If you hadn't mentioned it as a disease of young girls, I would have
thought that my wife was a sufferer of this problem. Have you ever heard of
an older woman having bulimia?
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ANSWER: The text books still call bulimia (gorging followed by regurgitation
to control weight) a young women's disease. Cases over the age of 45 are
rarely reported, although I have read about this situation in a woman of 56.
It's a difficult disease to detect, for the patients are secretive and do not
readily admit to the act, as they have considerable feelings of guilt. If you
really suspect that your wife is suffering from this condition, medical care
is vital. There are many causes for vomiting that may require immediate
treatment to correct. However, when careful examination and clinical
investigations fail to reveal the cause, the next step is psychiatric
evaluation and care. This is a disease that has only recently, "come out of
the closet," and it may well be that there are more sufferers among older
patients than previously thought.