Precursor

This is a precursor to a post that I'm in the process of composing.

Since I'm a queen dork, I keep up with words. I love them. I'm interested in the dictionary and I'm thrilled when the New Oxford American and Merriam Webster release their "new word" lists each year. Among the words added to the New Oxford American Dictionary in June of 2005 was the following: "diabulemia" - "the manipulation by diabetic patients of insulin treatments in order to lose weight."

Information about diabulemia is scarce. A Google search on the term brings up these:

Check at the very bottom of this article.

A slightly more in-depth look here.

It's easier for me to present you with the facts before I present you with my own story of hitting rock bottom and dealing with my bulemia and diabulemia.

When I was manipulating and skipping insulin doses to attain weight loss goals, there was no name for what I was doing. From just after my diagnosis in the early 1980s until two or three years ago when a new focus on eating disorders gave birth to a name for this dangerous practice, I knew girls and women who, like me, thought appearance was more important than health; thought that a slimmer figure was worth risking their lives. I am lucky; I was able to stop and I have not yet suffered complication consequences as a result of my dicey behaviors.

Is there a greater awareness of diabulemia now? Have any in the OC heard of the illness -- and did you know there was a clinical term for it? Do you think that the instensifying focus on poor control and resulting complications has reduced or has the potential to reduce incidence of the disorder?