History of Bulimia Nervosa

Although the term ‘bulimia nervosa’ is of recent origin, reports on morbid hunger may be found under a multitude of different labels as far back as medical records exist.

Instead of the self starvation that is characteristic of anorexics, bulimics engage in periodic bouts of binge eating that are always followed by a period of contrition during which the bulimic tries to undo the effects of the binge, either by purging, abusing diuretics or laxatives, of fasting and/or exercising to the extreme.

In ancient Egypt the practice of emesis was described in detail in Eber’s Papyrus. The papyrus lists several means of emptying the stomach, using anything from cow’s milk to concoctions of fennel and honey.

Egyptian purged themselves every month for 3 days in succession, to preserve health because they thought that food could cause disease.

The Romans used vomitoriums to eliminate their excesses. It was the designated site for forced vomiting between banquet courses.

The word bulimia is derived from a Greek word that can be literally translated as “ox hunger.” The word had been used medically for hundreds of years. It is denoting hunger of such intensity that a man had the capacity to eat an entire ox.

Descriptions resembling what we know as bulimia today – bingeing followed by purging – began to emerge in the 1930s.

Some 18th century clinical distinguished several forms of bulimia, some of which were viewed as being primary or ‘idiopathic’ bulimia, including bulimia helluonum (excessive hunger), bulimia syncopalis (fainting from hunger) and bulimia emetica (overeating with vomiting).

The incidence of this behavior increased after World War II, and by the 1960s, bulimia was described as a feature of some anorexic patients.

An epidemic-sized increased in the 1970s among college age women led to the recognition of bulimia as a distinct eating disorder.

In 1979, the term “bulimia nervosa” was officially coined to describe this eating disordered behavior.

The diagnosis of bulimia nervosa was introduced by British psychiatrist Professor Gerald Russell at the same year. He associated the term with a subgroup of patients with anorexia nervosa who displayed a chaotic pattern of eating, with episodes of fasting or extreme weight control, in contrast to patients who restricted their food.

He defined bulimia nervosa as an ominous variant of anorexia nervosa. Gradually the clinically picture has change so that the majority of cases of bulimia nervosa have not had a previous episode of anorexia nervosa.
History of Bulimia Nervosa