Pleasure and PainFood brings extreme happiness to some and significant torture to others. Healthy people live without their food choices changing their lives. Unfortunately, a large number of American citizens suffer from the harmful effects of eating disorders. Although readers need to understand the causes, health issues, and prevention of eating disorders, one way to gain insight involves descriptions and case studies. Three main types of eating disorders affect people's lives. Eating disorder victims suffer from an illness. Illness results from peer influence and emotional (eating) problems. Anorexia nervosa, bulimia nervosa, and binge eating disorder take a toll on life due to eating or lack of eating. Anorexia nervosa, one of the eating disorders, has been found to potentially threaten lives. Extreme weight loss and starvation results from anorexia (National). The signs and symptoms of a specific disorder vary. Some of the common symptoms include declining eating, ignoring hunger, excessive fear of gaining weight, clouded self-image, and loss of emotion (“Eating Disorders-Bing”). Anorexia nervosa leads to premature mortality. Research proves that this disorder has the highest early mortality rate of all psychiatric disorders. Most deaths occur as a result of physiological complications (National). Bulimia nervosa can lead to death like anorexia, but the characteristics remain different. Bulimics go through a binge cycle. Actions such as forced vomiting compensate for weight gain during binge eating (National). Common signs and symptoms involve eating until the victim feels discomfort, excessive consumption of unhealthy foods, forced vomiting, use of laxatives, and unusual bowel functioning (......mid paper......bulimiahelp.org/book/bulimia-overview/bulimia-statistics>.Drohan, Michele Ingber Weight Loss Programs: Weighing the Risks and Realities New York: Rosen Pub. | Anorexia Bulimia | The Something Fishy Eating Disorders Website. Web. February 2011. O'Brien, Eileen. Starving to Win: Athletes and Eating Disorders. New York: Rosen Pub..