Because bulimia occurs so frequently in high school and college students, a lot of people, including physicians, don't realize how dangerous the disease can be. Binge eating can cause the stomach to rupture. Regurgitation can dissolve the enamel on teeth, cause the salivary glands to swell and take out so much potassium from the system that a victim can develop irregular heart beats and occasionally die.
Most bulimics have to be treated with antidepressants.
The prevailing view used to be that once a person with anorexia gets over the crisis, he or she is cured. Those who were most likely to recover from bulimia were younger when they first developed the disease, came from richer and more educated families and had a family history of alcohol abuse. Treatment with antidepressant drugs appeared to help bulimics recover faster from their disease. Those most likely to suffer from bulimia are overly concerned with weight gain and have fluctuating weight gains. Those most likely to have bulimia have swelling at the angle of their jaw, thick skin on their knuckles from inducing regurgitation and erosion of their teeth.