Doenças do comportamento alimentar e diabetes mellitus tipo 1.

Abstract

Type 1 Diabetes mellitus is a chronic disease, often diagnosed in youth and associated with important psychological, familial and social disorders. Its intensive treatment with insulin and dietary changes is an extra stress factor in a stage of life already complicated. This vulnerability, coupled with low self-esteem and psychological factors typical of the youth, makes eating disorders twice as common in young girls with type 1 diabetes. The omission of insulin is the sole purging behavior used to lose weight, culminating in a poor glycemic control and increased acute and chronic complications. The treatment seeks to achieve specific objectives, depending on the associated psychiatric pathology. Because of its frequency, the clinician should be alert to early manifestations of this association. We present four clinical cases of young people with type 1 diabetes and eating disorders, which show the complexity of the approach and monitoring of these patients.