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Tory MSP Annie Wells says diabulimics face a much higher mortality.

She says raising awareness of diabulimia is key.

The Tory MSP says once diagnosed there is no specific diagnosis code.

She says there are no current NHS guidelines on how to treat diabulimia.

Ms Wells calls for the condition to be officially recognised.

The UK's first ever diabetes and eating disorder service has begun working with young women dealing with "diabulimia".

It's thought one in three young women with type 1 diabetes struggle with their weight or have eating concerns.

Diabulimia is not yet medically recognised but the term means diabetic people who deliberately take too little insulin in order to lose weight.

It can have harmful lasting effects such as blindness, kidney problems, hair loss and early death.

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There's a forum specifically for people with diabulimia., external

For more information on diabetes you can look at these BBC Advice pages.

The charity, DWED, external (Diabetics With Eating Disorders) has been campaigning to have the omission of insulin for weight loss officially recognised as a mental illness

Conservative MSP Annie Wells explains that diabulimia is an eating disorder that is still relatively unknown.

"Not officially recognised medically. It is seen as the world's most dangerous eating disorder."

Ms Wells explains that it affects people with type 1 diabetes.

Sufferers can lose weight by not taking insulin and can continue to eat as normal which makes it difficult to for others to notice they have a disorder, says the Tory MSP.

Becky Rudkin

You don’t get a day off when you’ve got diabetes. Every day is about blood sugar levels, needles and numbers.

When you’ve got diabetes and an eating disorder, well, that’s a lot of numbers dictating your life, from calorie counting to watching the scales.

I have diabulimia. The term is a combination of diabetes and bulimia, and it’s used to describe someone with type 1 diabetes who deliberately reduces the amount of insulin they take to lose weight – someone like me.

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I was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes 10 years ago, aged 19. Unlike type 2 diabetes, external, which is linked to your diet and lifestyle, type 1 is an autoimmune disease. It has no known cause and can’t be cured.

I couldn’t shake the idea that people would assume my diabetes was caused by my weight.

The basic science, external behind diabulimia is that, without insulin to process glucose, the body cannot break down sugars from food to use as energy. Instead, the body's cells break down fat already stored in the body, flushing out the excess sugar through the urine. If there’s not fat to burn, the body will start burning through muscle and organs.

Read more here.

For more information on diabulimia you can look at these information and support pages.

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Conservative MSP Annie Wells will now lead a member's debate to raise awareness of diabulimia.

Ms Wells uses her motion to say diabulimia is a little known, but extremely dangerous, eating disorder among people with Type 1 diabetes (T1D), who avoid taking their insulin in an attempt to lose weight.

She says it is not officially recognised as a medical condition and that, consequently, many people do not receive the support that they need.

The Tory MSP says in the UK, an estimated 40% of young women aged 15-30 with T1D have the condition, and notes the calls for a greater understanding of diabulimia and the provision of new and improved specialist support.

We now move to a member's debate being led by Tory MSP Annie Wells on diabulimia.

SNP MSP George Adam asks how many households have received support from the Scottish Welfare Fund.

Ms Sturgeon says 265,000 households have received grants and says the roll out of Universal Credit is making the situation worse

Mr Adam points to a report saying disabled people and their families are being left hungry, cold and homeless.

He says some are contemplating suicide.

Ms Sturgeon says 44% of disabled people could see their benefits reduced or removed by the UK government's plans.

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The number of crisis grants handed out to Scots struggling to pay for basics like food or heating has risen by 14%.

Councils received more than 160,000 requests for help in 2016/17, with the emergency cash paid out totalling more than £9.3m.

The Scottish government said "harsh welfare cuts" and delayed payments from the UK administration were to blame.

The Department of Work and Pensions denied this, saying the Scottish government's claim was "misleading".

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It's been 10 years since the UK last saw interest rates rise.

Back then, the iPhone had only just been unveiled, Twitter was a one-year old mystery and Instagram didn't even exist.

Hard to imagine life without these things now, but interest rates of 5.75% and Gordon Brown as prime minister seem strangely alien.

After that 0.25% rise, the world of monetary policy went into a tailspin, with central banks imposing a rapid series of interest rate cuts as it attempted to outrun the credit crunch.

Finally, in March 2009 they hit a record low of 0.5% until being cut again to 0.25% in August 2016 in the aftermath of the shock Brexit vote.

Read more here

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Labour MSP Pauline McNeill asks what action the Scottish government plans to take to help families faced with financial hardship should interest rates rise.

Ms McNeill asks if it is time the government invested more seriously in affordable credit and calls for a more serious approach to credit unions.

She asks if the first minister will look at non-profit lending schemes.

The first minister says she agrees with the thrust of the question.

Labour MSP Iain Gray says the Pupil Equity Fund is a good thing and calls for it to do the job it is designed to do.

Ms Sturgeon asks why Labour voted against the Pupil Equity Fund in the budget.

She says the spending power of local councils increased in this financial year.

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The Scottish government set out in July where £45m of funding to tackle the attainment gap in schools would be allocated over the coming year.

The latest round of funding will go to the nine councils with the highest concentrations of deprivation, along with 72 schools in other poorer areas.

Education Secretary John Swinney said boosting schools was the Scottish government's "defining mission".

Opposition parties said the funding did not go far enough to tackle problems.

Read more here

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Ms Sturgeon goes on to tell Ms Smith that school inspections will be used to check on the use of pupil equity funding.

Ms Smith says some councils are using pupil equity funding to plug gaps in other areas of education, like janitor's overtime.

Ms Sturgeon says pupil equity funding is to be used for additionality, and that reports it will be used for janitor's overtime are not correct.

She says it is for headteachers to determine how best to use the funding.

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Conservative MSP Liz Smith asks: "What criteria will be used to access pupil equity funding?"

Ms Sturgeon says the government will confirm their approach in December.