• Binge eating could cause stomach perforations in people with undiagnosed ulcers.

                  - Also known as Gastrointestinal Perforation is when a hole forms in the stomach allowing the                                   contents of the stomach to go into the abdominal cavity. Symptoms include severe stomach pains,                         chills, fever, nausea and vomiting.

- Shanthi Sitaraman, MD, PhD, a gastroenterologist

at Emory University School of Medicine in Atlanta.

 

• Water intoxication is also a concern. Water intoxication is a deadly syndrome that results from dilution of electrolytes in the blood. But water intoxication is rarely a risk in people who are not already losing electrolytes, for example through long-distance running.

                  - The lost of electrolytes from water intoxication can be fatal due to the disturbance in brain                                     functions. Symptoms include confusion, disorientation, nausea and vomiting but there can also be                         changes in their mental state and psychotic symptoms. If water intoxication is not recognised early                       on it can lead to seizures, coma, hyponatraemia and even death.

- Shanthi Sitaraman

 

• Protracted vomiting can increase the chances of aspiration, or food getting into the lungs rather than the esophagus. This can lead to deadly pneumonia.

                   - Pneumonia is a lung infection. It can cause coughing, fever, difficulty breathing, fast heartbeat,                              nausea, diarrhea, shaking/chills and chest pains. It often clears up within 2-3 weeks.

 

• Gastroparesis, or stomach paralysis. If the stomach muscles are repeatedly overstretched, they may ultimately fail to contract, and the stomach will lose its ability to empty itself. Usually associated with diabetes, gastroparesis can cause chronic indigestion, nausea, and vomiting. It has no effective cure.

- David Metz, MD, a gastroenterologist at the University of Pennsylvania

 

• A full stomach sends a message via the vagus nerve to the brain, which then orders the stomach to contract and send food into the small intestine. Competitive eaters somehow block that signal even as their stomach stretches to enormous proportions. Otherwise, their digestion processes appear normal.

- David Metz