Having type 1 diabetes raises the risk of developing anorexia or bulimia twofold. 40% of 15 - 30 year old female Type 1's also regularly induce potentially fatal diabetic ketoacidosis by omitting their insulin to loose weight rapidly. There are a plethora of mental health issues that can accompany a diagnosis of type 1, a rare (less than 250,000 in the UK) auto immune disease whereby the immune system accidentally kills off the insulin producing cells in the pancreas. As a result T1's are dependent on synthetic insulin to stay alive, too much is injected and a hypoglycemic coma can occur, not enough and you can die of acidosis. It is a second by second disease that never takes a holiday and requires constant attention. No one knows why Type 1 happens, popular theories include a faulty reaction to a virus or an extreme physical shock. You would not have learned this or the difference between type 1 (typically diagnosed early in life, completely unrelated to diet or lifestyle issues) and type 2 diabetes (typically diagnosed in adults and correlated with diet and lifestyle issues) if you had watched channel 4's the Hospital. There is a huge amount of ignorance surrounding type 1 diabetes, children diagnosed often get bullied as the distinction between this and type 2 is not advertised in the media and people presume it is caused by eating rubbish and being lazy. Perhaps what Channel 4 have missed is that this kind of irresponsible, inaccurate and tabloidesque programming can seriously damage type 1 diabetics. Many feel under extreme pressure to be thin, to detach from the stereotype of an illness that is completely unrelated to their own and like stated above develop very serious eating disorders. At no point at all in the documentary did Channel 4 make the distinction between the two types and the last statement by their 'expert' was that diabetes will become like smoking, cut to the type 1 not taking her insulin and by the way with a blood sugar reading of HI she should have been in front of an A & E nurse not a camera. This is just going to further promote confusion and add to the appalling ignorance faced by t1's everyday. I seriously hope that future broadcasting will take the quarter of a million Type 1's who did NOTHING to encourage the onset of their diabetes into consideration. Channel 4 should be ashamed of themselves they have potentially wiped out the hard work of t1's, their carers and supporters in raising awareness of this truly awful disease. And for what? To prove that teenagers are stupid and irresponsible. Poor, poor show.
Kind Regards
Jacqueline Allan
Director: www.diabeticswitheatingdisorders.org.uk