People who have type 1 diabetes can suffer a very common eating disorder that puts them at risk of falling into a coma and suffering from blindness, amputations and renal failures that could even take them to death.
It is a little known health problem that combines type 1 diabetes and bulimia and is known as diabulimia.
It mainly affects adolescents with this condition that usually omit the consumption of their insulin doses to lose weight.It is estimated that in the United States a third of the total patients resort to this practice.
In Mexico there are no statistics of this problem, since, when young women enter the health centers, they are generally diagnosed by other disorders, such as ... complications for diabetes.
People with type 1 diabetes need continuous doses of insulin to process the foods they ingest.Without this substance in its blood, the body cannot process food ingested as a source of energy, and most of the calories that are eaten are lost.
From somewhere this energy has to leave and the body fixes them to use its reserves, but at a very high price.
The symptoms of diabulimia almost always coincide with those of non -controlled diabetes.
In the short term: patients begin to urinate constantly, they have thirst, excessive appetite and high level of blood glucose, they are tired, they have an inability to concentrate and show low levels of sodium.
In the medium term: muscle atrophy, gastroesophageal reflux disease, indigestion, considerable weight loss, dehydration and high cholesterol.In the long term: severe damage to the kidneys, blindness, diabetic coma and death are presented.
Once the diagnosis of diabulimia was achieved, the patient requires psychological treatment and if necessary with medications.The support of the family is also essential, to which someone is recommended to provide the insulin dose so that the patient does not evade it.
In recent years, cases of type 1 diabetes have increased considerably and more of the mystad corresponds to women between 15 and 30 years.The specialists predict that four out of 10 of them will have this new combination.
Diabetics and their relatives must be aware of this condition and above all know that they have two options: live a normal life if insulin is correctly controlled, or skip doses of insulin to lose weight.But if they choose this option they can also lose their lives.