Having freed myself from the stifling clutches of nearly 20 years of an eating disorder, I want nothing more than to see research on treatment and prevention. Diabetes healthcare providers often dismiss the non-compliant patients as lost causes because of continued lack of understanding about the mental health aspects of diabetes management, and because there is relatively little known about effective treatment strategies. Those amongst us who need the most help are the least likely to receive treatment and services!

There are a lot of diabetes organizations whose missions range from patient advocacy to research on treatment and prevention to camps for diabetic kids to you-name-it. There are also plenty of organizations for eating disorder treatment, prevention, family support, and patient advocacy. However, what if you want to donate to a cause is for diabetics with eating disorders? There are no organizations specifically devoted to that cause despite the fact that food and body image issues are a plague amongst diabetics, forced to be preoccupied with every bite we eat due to the nature of disease management, and living in bodies that often feel out of our control.

Dr. Ann Goebel-Fabbri of Joslin Diabetes Center in Boston, an expert on diabetes, eating disorders and eating disturbances will be participating in a race to raise money for Joslin in order to continue the very important research she does. Her dedication to furthering understanding of eating disorders amongst diabetics is inspiring. She works tirelessly to make Joslin a leader in this specific area of diabetes research, and since she’s only one of a scant handful of diabetes professionals who are dedicated to this cause, I think it’s important that the diabetes community let her know this is important to us. It’s possible this issue doesn’t directly touch your life, but if you’re a regular DOC participant (or lurker), rest assured, you know someone who has struggled with this in the past or possibly struggles with it now, and worse yet, you could likely know the parents of diabetics who will struggle in the future.

Joslin is obviously a great organization and resource for diabetics, and considering all they do, money to them is money well spent. By sponsoring Dr. Goebel-Fabbri in this race, you can help Joslin continue to be one of the leaders in research to further understand the relationship between disordered and disturbed eating and diabetes, and research into treatment and prevention of this wide-spread problem.

From the donation page, a letter from Dr. Goebel-Fabbri:

Dear Friends,

I watched this year’s Boston Marathon, including runners from “Team Joslin,” and they inspired me to run the Litchfield Hills Road Race (LHRR) as a fund-raiser for Joslin on June 14th.

LHRR is a 7.1 mile race in Litchfield, CT with strong ties to Boston. Joe Concannon, a Litchfield High School graduate was a sports writer for the Boston Globe during the 1970’s marathon craze. He and some buddies designed the race to be similar to the Falmouth Road Race. Thirty three years later, the race is a unique mix of local runners doing it for fun and elite athletes who finish with world-class times. It starts with the firing of a cannon on the Litchfield Green, and runners start their run to the tune of “Chariots of Fire.” All in all, it’s a great time until you hit the final mile – a nasty hill called Gallows Lane (as if the hill itself weren’t intimidating enough!).

My goal is to raise money for a unique problem that has been the focus of my career at Joslin; eating disorders and diabetes. Research indicates that 30% of girls and women with type 1 diabetes skip or reduce necessary insulin injections in order to lose weight. This behavior raises the risk of developing dangerous complications of diabetes (including eye disease, kidney disease, and nerve damage) and has been shown to result in a three times greater risk of death. Despite these serious, life-threatening consequences, little is known about effective treatments for this problem, and even less is known about how to prevent it.

With your help, I hope to raise money that will allow Joslin to pursue important research in this area, raise awareness and educate other health professionals about the problem, and create programming to meet the unique treatment needs of these women and girls.

Supporting these efforts at Joslin Diabetes Center, the world’s preeminent diabetes research and clinical care organization, can have a major impact on this problem. So please, support my run, invest in diabetes care and research, and make a difference for the 24 million Americans out there with diabetes.

To make a donation, click “give now” button on this web page. Or you can mail a check made out to “Women’s Behavioral Health Fund” to Ann Goebel-Fabbri, Joslin Diabetes Center, 1 Joslin Place, Boston, MA 02215 . I’ll be thinking of you on June 14th.

Your support is greatly appreciated,

Ann

Click this link, Team Joslin to donate!