About DiabulimiaDiabulimia is the name coined to describe an emerging form of bulimia in diabetics. Individuals willfully withhold their insulin doses in order to lose weight. The practice is catching on among an estimated 450,000 individuals with type I diabetes—in which the body cannot make its own insulin. By skipping doses, a diabetic effectively flushes sugar out of her cells and eliminates it through nearly constant urination. The practice is akin to bulimia, except that it is sugar not food being purged. Remuda Programs for Eating Disorders, a leading eating disorder treatment center, reports that manipulating insulin dosages causes all kinds of medical complications such as blindness and kidney failure, and is often lethal. When anorexia or a related eating disorder is present, the death rate for young women escalates to 35 percent. Additional Information > Remuda Ranch’s advice - read > MSNBC article about the diabulimia trend - read |