Diabulimia is an eating disorder that is not included in official psychology textbooks. This disorder affects patients diagnosed with type 1 diabetes mellitus. But what exactly does it consist of?
Diabulimia is a reduction in the required dose of insulin to lose weight. Patients with type 1 diabetes mellitus need to follow a diet, control their weight, and avoid certain foods, which can lead to the development of an eating disorder such as diabulimia.
Skipping the necessary doses of insulin to reduce weight has significant health consequences. It also leads to increased mortality and worse treatment outcomes than conventional eating disorders.
Eating disorders and diabetes
In general, pathological eating habits in patients with diabetes mellitus are more difficult to detect. This is true for both professionals and family members. The reason is that they may be hidden behind the usual treatment guidelines for diabetes (diet, weight control, calculating carbohydrate amounts, etc.).
Furthermore, these guidelines may make it difficult for people with diabetes mellitus who develop an eating disorder to become aware of their illness. It is therefore important for the affected person to be aware of their illness.
What is insulin and how does it affect us?
Insulin is a hormone produced by the pancreas. It is responsible for regulating the amount of glucose in the blood. Insulin is also the name given to a substance that has the same properties as this hormone and is obtained by artificial chemical synthesis for the treatment of diabetes.
Patients with type 1 diabetes mellitus cannot produce sufficient amounts of insulin in the pancreas. This makes it difficult to regulate glucose levels and can damage the pancreas.
Symptoms of diabulimia
We could say that the symptoms of diabulimia are similar to those of uncontrolled diabetes. Excess glucose in the blood causes fatigue and weakness, increased hunger, thirst, and the need to urinate.
If diabulimia continues uncontrolled, muscles may atrophy, the person may become dehydrated, or cholesterol levels may rise. In extreme cases, severe kidney damage may occur. This damage may lead to neuropathy, blindness, and heart problems.
Causes of diabulimia
As we have previously mentioned, diabulimia is an eating disorder in which people with type 1 diabetes mellitus ignore their medical treatment to lose weight. Thus, the cause of this disorder is the reduction of the required dose of insulin to lose weight.
When someone is diagnosed with type 1 diabetes mellitus, insulin injections and a controlled diet cause the weight that had been lost to be quickly regained. Unfortunately, some people risk their health to lose a few kilos.
How is diabulimia treated?
Traditional treatment for diabulimia focuses on teaching people how to read food labels. Patients should think of food as sustenance, not calories. Doctors recommend listening to your body when you are hungry or full.
It is important to know that an eating disorder with diabetes is different from the same disorder without diabetes. The patient must be monitored more frequently and carefully if possible. In addition, the treatment must be multidisciplinary. The team must be made up of an endocrinologist, a diabetes educator, and a psychologist or psychiatrist .
The problem with type 1 diabetes management is that you have to know the amounts of carbohydrates to use insulin. There are times when the patient has to eat, even if he or she is not hungry. This intuitive way of eating needs to be adjusted in those with type 1 diabetes.
Treatment must be substantially modified: it is very dangerous to reduce a high glucose level abruptly. The process of lowering glucose must be gradual, but there is no standard medical protocol at the moment.
Research is underway on this, and this is promising. What is known for sure, however, is that lowering glucose levels should happen slowly. For some patients, doing so may make them feel that they are managing their disease better. When glucose is lowered gradually, fluid-related weight gain occurs less frequently.