OPPapers.com

Diabulimia

In today’s diet obsessed world of calorie-counting-whole-grain wonder foods it is shocking to find a diet where the more one eats, the more one loses. Most who struggle with their weight, and even those who don’t, would sign up in an instant for this type of diet. Not having to exercise and the ability to eat whatever one wants, the sweeter the foods the better is a major selling feature. However, this diet is only accessible for those lucky few who suffer from insulin-dependent Diabetes mellitus (IDDM), otherwise known as Type 1 Diabetes.
IDDM is an endocrine disorder and those individuals who suffer from IDDM are unable to produce adequate amounts of insulin. Insulin is a hormone that is produced by the beta cells in the pancreas and it functions to regulate the amount of glucose, or sugar, in the blood stream by prompting the body tissues to convert glucose into fuel (Lemberg, 1999). Individuals with IDDM need to use exogenous insulin and consistently measure blood glucose level, eat a well balanced diet, and exercise regularly (Crow, Keel, & Kendall, 1998). When insulin is not administered to these individuals, they become hyperglycemic which means that they have too much glucose in their blood. Chronic hyperglycemia in these individuals can result in several complications including damage to nerves in the peripheral and autonomic nervous systems causing abnormal or decreased sensation, damage to the retina in the eye which can cause vision loss or blindness, damage to small blood vessels, and damage to the kidney which can result in chronic kidney failure that may result in need for kidney dialysis.
The most severe complication of diabetes is diabetic ketoacidosis and occurs when the body is without sufficient insulin. This is a life threatening condition and requires immediate medical care. This condition changes the acid-base balance, or pH balance of the blood. Blood has a normal pH range to be between 7.35 and 7.45, ketoacidosis causes the...