A recent study reported in Diabetes Care reports a scary new trend among young women with type 1 diabetes. Diabulimia is the practice of skipping doses of insulin to achieve rapid and significant weight loss. This high-risk behavior carries potentially fatal consequences. Women with type 1 diabetes who intentionally neglect insulin doses are three times more likely to suffer premature death, as well as serious complications like kidney dysfunction and foot problems.

Ovidio Bermudez, medical director of the Eating Disorders Program at Laureate Psychiatric Clinic and Hospital in Oklahoma, commented for U.S. New and World Report on diabulimia:

"Diabulimia really needs to be looked at as a mental illness. ... This is not about 'cut it out,' it's about 'get help.'"

Experts suggest that the best way for parents to recognize this extreme behavior as early as possible is to stay involved. William Polonsky, director of the Behavioral Diabetes Institute in San Diego, warns parents that young diabetics may be picking up this behavior from peers and that they may be very good at concealing it:

"You see a lot of parents who are oblivious because their child has developed an enormously effective skill to be secretive about it. ... The No. 1 thing is to make sure you stay involved in your child's diabetes."

(Source: health.usnews.com)

Posted By: jgarcia