When diabetes and eating disorders intermix… A popular term that refers to this is “diabulimia” (likely a combination of words “diabetes” and “bulimia”), but that isn’t necessarily the the most accurate verbiage. People with diabetes can experience almost or full-blown Anorexia Nervosa, Bulimia Nervosa, or Binge Eating Disorder along with their diabetes. Should we instead call these combinations, “dia-rexia,” diabulimia,” or “dia-BED?” Probably not–that would be overdoing it with the labels… Exchanges, Blog of the UNC Center of Excellence for Eating Disorders (Altschul, 2013) points out another term that refers to the convergence of eating disorders and diabetes: Eating Disorder – Diabetes Mellitus Type I (ED-DMT1). Way more important than the wording is the awareness that people with diabetes can also suffer from eating disorders, and the combination can be especially dangerous.
