Bulimia: an uncommon problem in aircrewmen--a case report.
This is a case report of a male naval aviator suffering from bulimia. Bulimia is an eating disorder normally associated with young affluent females. A review of bulimia as to etiology, characteristics, prevalence, diagnosis, treatment, and prognosis is presented to familiarize the reader with the disease. About 1% of the U.S. male population is afflicted with this disorder, while it has been estimated that up to 22% of females are afflicted. The only documented case of bulimia in a male aircrewman is presented. He was misdiagnosed on several occasions. When diagnosed, his symptomatology was severe. He was offered psychotherapy and close medical supervision and allowed to return to flight duty. His disease was chronic and recurrent. He was eventually grounded again. It is felt that bulimics are a very poor risk for return to flight duty due to the recurrent nature of the disease, the manipulative characteristics of those afflicted and the extreme difficulty of following patients suffering from this illness.
D000328:Adult; D000337:Aerospace Medicine; D002032:Bulimia / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000523:psychology* / Q000628:therapy; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008889:Military Personnel / Q000523:psychology*