Diabulimia: Diabetic Young Women Skipping Shots to Lose Weight

Posted on July 4, 2007

The BBC is reporting that thousands of young women and teenage women with type 1 diabetes are intentionally skipping injections to fuel weight loss. The eating disorder has been dubbed "diabulimia." It also sometimes referred to as ED-DMT1, Eating Disorder-Diabetes Mellitus Type 1 by medical professionals.

People with type 1 diabetes need daily injections to help them absorb glucose to use as fuel. Failure to take correct doses can lead to rapid weight loss.
Charity Diabetes UK estimates that up to one-third of young women with the disease miss injections to stay thin.
Doctors warn that the "diabulimia" eating disorder can lead to blindness, heart and kidney disease.
US doctors recently went public on their concerns about the practice.

It is very sad to read about teen girls and young women suffering from type 1 diabetes engaging in the very dangerous behavior of skipping insulin shots simply to lose weight. Without the insulin the young women could be damaging their bodies and organs.

Information about some of the many complications of diabulimia can be found on the nationaleatingdisorders.org.

HEALTH
DIABETES