Anorexia nervosa and bulimia nervosa are eating disorders. Anorexia nervosa is an eating disorder that is characterized by an intense fear of gaining weight, abnormally low body weight, and a distorted perception of weight. People with anorexia nervosa have an unusual appetite for controlling weight and shape and sometimes the efforts they put in affect their daily lives. Such people have strict restrictions on the amount of food they take and control the calories they take by vomiting after eating or exercising excessively.

Bulimia nervosa is a life-threatening eating disorder that is characterized by secretly eating large amounts of food with a loss of control over the eating and then trying to get rid of the extra calories in an unhealthy way. Some of the unhealthy ways they use to get rid of extra calories include self-induced vomiting, the use of diuretics, fasting, and excessive exercise. It affects women and teenagers mostly and is influenced by the desire to imitate media personalities who have slim bodies.

Both patients with these eating conditions have an obsession with body image, self-esteem issues, and purging. Also, patients with both conditions share the pain of growing fat and believe that their bodies are flawed. The main difference between the two conditions is that Anorexia Nervosa involves deliberate starvation while Bulimia Nervosa involves binge eating followed by purging.

Also, people with Anorexia Nervosa are very thin and emaciated most of the time, while those with Bulimia Nervosa have an average weight that is ideal for their height and age. Moreover, people with Anorexia prefer to starve or eat less food, whereas those with Bulimia eat heavy meals followed by purging. The other difference between the two conditions is that Anorexia increases the risk of developing conditions such as infertility, osteoporosis, and amenorrhea. Bulimia results in heart failure, tooth decay, and esophagus damage.  Chicago