High Prevalence of Eating Disorders in US Type 1 Diabetics

Eating Disorders in US Type 1 Diabetics
Eating Disorders in US Type 1 Diabetics. Credit | bymuratdeniz

United States: A recent data grounded on the study says that the  condition reveals that one in four persons in United States with type 1 diabetes who are 16 years of age or aged may also be dealing with an eating issue which is veritably common currently.

Common in Type 1 Diabetics

An individual with type 1 diabetes must have insulin injections because the autoimmune complaint causes the body to destroy the pancreatic cells that produce insulin. Type 1 diabetes affects around 5 of cases.

There is also a new research has been led by a doctoral student Pia Niemela from the University of Eastern Finland. Her and along with her team looked at the data from 45 studies which involves nearly 11,600 people with the type 1 diabetes.

They discovered that nearly one in four patients, or more than 2,500, also had eating disorder symptoms.

Impact of Diabetes on Insulin Use

The Finnish researchers noted that since weight gain is a concern for many persons with type 1 diabetes, this is not really surprising. In addition to binge eating or reducing their food intake, some patients with the condition engage in “insulin omission,” a type of disordered eating.

Risks of Skipping Insulin

Although it can be extremely harmful, skipping insulin injections is a technique that is believed to prevent weight gain.

According to a university news release, Niemelä stated, “Intentional skipping or restriction of insulin doses will lead to weight loss, but this also maintains high blood glucose, throwing the management of diabetes off balance.”

Gender Disparities

According to the study, eating disorders were more common in women with type 1 diabetes than in males, although age did not appear to be a factor.

According to Niemelä, “eating disorder symptoms are often thought to affect adolescents and young adults.” “However, our meta-analysis shows that adults, too, suffer from eating disorder symptoms, which is why it is important to learn to identify patients with eating disorders.”

Screening Techniques

She emphasized that type 1 diabetics who acquire eating disorders are more likely to have difficulties and deterioration of their condition. Still, some screening techniques can assist medical professionals in identifying symptoms of eating disorders in patients.

The study was released in Eating Disorders’ April edition.