There are three known diseases of eating disorders: compulsive overeating, anorexia nervosa, and bulimia. All three affect various body systems, are pathological in nature, and are addictive behaviors that mainly affect females. All can be fatal if not treated or under-treated. Compulsive overeating is the most known of the three disorders. The overeater may eat three meals per day along with frequent snacks, may eat continuously throughout the day, and usually becomes obese. Anorexia nervosa literally means loss of appetite. This is misleading, however, because anorexics are often hungry and deny themselves due to an irrational fear of fat. Bulimia literally means "animal hunger," and refers to the manner in which an individual takes in food. The eating binge can be between 2,000 and 55,000 calories, and can last as long as 2 to 8 hours. Other names for this disease are bulimarexia, and bulimia nervosa. These refer to the disease where one binges food and then purges through vomiting, abusing laxatives or diuretics, or abusive exercising. Professionals can watch for isolative tendencies, social changes, depression, weight fluctuations, and apathy. Family members can watch for frequent dieting, weight fluctuations, missing food, or evidence of food being eaten and hidden. Most of the destructive bodily damage is repairable with time, good nutrition, and cessation of the bingeing-purging activity. (LLL)