Eating disorder

There has been some discussion on the interwebs about diabetes and eating disorders.

Now here's something I hadn't thought about, or worried about enough, evidently.

I first came across the topic after Joanne had posted her fabulous video, "What not to say to the parent of a Type 1 diabetic". In the video, she mentions Halle Berry. Saying that if Halle Berry can cure herself, why can't the protagonist's daughter?

The response? "Halle Berry is Catwoman. My daughter is not Catwoman."

This prompted me to research the topic of Halle Berry and diabetes, because I had never heard anything about it before.

Wow! Was I out of the loop!

It seems that Halle Berry had been diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes, and declared on a national talk show that she had "cured" herself, and now has what she likes to call "Type 2" diabetes, because she can control it with diet and exercise.

Well, I've got news for you: Halle Berry didn't cure herself, (There is no cure for diabetes. You can only manage it.) nor did she convert herself into a different type of diabetic (The difference is not in the use of insulin, nor in the age of the patient during diagnosis). As a diabetic, she should know the difference between the two.


I mentioned that when M was diagnosed, she had lost 20 pounds in three weeks. My daughter was starving to death because her body could not process that food entering her body. In fact, she was not only starving to death, but her body was being poisoned by the food she ate.

If not for insulin, my daughter could have looked like this early recipient of insulin:

courtesy of http://www.diabetesindia.com/diabetes/diabetes_insulin5.htm

(same child, before and after experimental insulin treatment in the early 1900's)

and eventually would have died after a few months, maybe a year if she didn't eat much.

Which leads me to this idea about eating disorders.

During my "Halle Berry research phase," I read a blog that suggested that Ms. Berry might be deliberately keeping her bg high, at risk to her own health, in order to stay slender. Knowing what I know about diabetes and weight loss, I could see why someone might jump to that conclusion, but I said "pshaw" to the idea, thinking that a celebrity with a gajillion dollars and some determination might find just the right diet and exercise combination to keep her bg levels in range.

Not "cure" herself. But control her diabetes.

Fast forward to mid-November of this year, when I received a catalog from the ADA.

This time of year they sell things like Christmas cards and ornaments at a high price, a portion of which goes to diabetes research. The catalog is full of items to purchase as well as inspirational or frightening articles about diabetes.

I was surprised to see an article in the catalog  about diabetes and eating disorders. It told the stories of some young women who were risking their long-term health in order to stay slim. They fully acknowledged that they did it. They knew that they shouldn't. But apparently they didn't think that what they were doing qualified as an eating disorder.

So, if this is a bonafide problem in the Diabetic Community, maybe the suspicion about Ms. Berry had some merit.

On the other hand, maybe she was misdiagnosed.

So great.

As the mother of a teenager - a daughter- with diabetes, who clearly doesn't have enough for which to be watching out, I now have to stay alert for signs of an eating disorder in my kid.

The signs and symptoms are the same as for other eating disorders.

As a high school teacher, I am familiar with them all.

I want to end by saying that I am hopeful that my pragmatic daughter will be wise enough not to get caught up in the pursuit of perfection through extreme body management.

But I will indeed keep my eyes open.

Thought I'd end with a healthy-looking image.