Young diabetics skipping insulin jabs to stay thin

Published on Thursday 5 July 2007 00:17

THOUSANDS of young diabetics are risking their lives by skipping insulin injections in order to lose weight, a leading charity has warned.

Diabetes UK says that up to a third of young women with the disease miss the life- saving injections or drastically reduce the dose so they can stay thin.

Doctors are warning that the dangerous practice can induce a diabetic coma and even death. The "diabulimia" eating disorder can also cause serious long-term conditions such as blindness and heart disease.

Medical experts in the United States recently raised concerns, calling for young adults to get urgent treatment to help them manage the problem.

Since then, a BBC radio programme has received correspondence from dozens of Type 1 diabetics in the UK who admit they have used their insulin injections as a dieting tool.

Victoria Hunter, from Glasgow, abused insulin in her teens. She said: "If I knew I had a party coming up at the weekend and wanted to fit into a lovely outfit I would maybe skip all my evening injections and lose up to half a stone in a week."

Patients who suffer from Type 1 diabetes need to take insulin injections every day, as the pancreas does not produce any insulin. The substance helps the body process blood glucose. As the glucose keeps circulating and the blood sugar levels keep rising, it produces rapid weight loss as the body is starved of energy.