After having recently read an article from October 15, 2007 in the Sunday Times regarding the medically unrecognised disorder of Diabulimia I was eager to do my bit, alongside people like Emma Cope to raise people's awareness of it.
Diabulimia is a eating disorder that, according to the charity Diabetes UK affects one in three diabetic women under the age of 30 and it is forecast that this figure will continue to rise until something effective is done to combat it. People who suffer from the condition, which is yet to be formally recognised as a medical diagnosis, deliberately administer themselves far less insulin than their body requires with the goal being the swift weight loss that ensues. The harsh pressure to be skinny put on young women is quite obviously having an effect on the diabetic population. It is particularly difficult for females with diabetes since they have, on average, a higher body mass index than their nondiabetic counterparts; their ambition to resemble their apparent role-models as depicted inthe media makes them forget the need to control their diabetes, often with disastrous health consequences! This deliberate under administration of insulin places the body in a state of starvation, resulting in the breakdown of not only fat but muscle into ketone bodies and subsequently into ketoacids, while also making the body unable to properly process sugars that have been eaten, so the sugars are lost in the urine rather than being assimilated by the body for energy or stored as fat. This will usually result in significant weight loss but also places the diabulimia sufferer at huge risk of diabetic ketoacidosis as well as seriously increased risk of blindness, heart disease, kidney and nerve damage and even premature death.
The point I am attempting to convey is the need for people to become more aware of the existence of diabulimia and the horrid effects it will haveon the lives of people who suffer from it. The importance of closely monitoring blood sugar levels for a diabetic is undeniable. Most diabulimia sufferers think that they are the only ones with the condition and nobody is interested in helping them however in recent years there are a growing number of websites offering support and services such as Axon TeleHealthCare's Remote Monitoring Service for diabetics which offers great help and the motivation you need to carefully and effectively control your diabetes and can be that first, and ongoing step to regaining your health and your life.
There is so much hype about being thin but let your brain register the possible side effects; no insulin=weight loss, is not the answer.
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