Diabetic Patients Warned About 'Belly Bottom' Syndrome

By Winnona Carter - Medical Research Editor | March 28th, 2012

Findings in routine examinations surprised a group of experienced doctors!

A Mail Online article detailed the shocked felted by a group of medical experts upon learning of growths that were found on a South African man. The large masses were located beneath the man's belly button and looked liked a buttocks.

The 55 year old gentleman suffered from type 1 diabetes mellitus and required daily injections of the hormone insulin to survive. The large lumps formed in the area were the man had been injecting his insulin for the last 30 years to manage his blood sugar levels.

The man was not aware that insulin injection sites need to be rotated around to different parts of the body to avoid the gradual increase of extra fat beneath the skin.

The condition known as lipohypertrophy is a common, but often mild complication of type 1 diabetes.

The man thought that the lumps were normal because he had seen them in other diabetics who injected their insulin. The lumps did not cause the man any pain so he did not seek medical attention.

The size of the fatty masses surprised the physicians that treated the man. Dr. Stan Landau was a member of the team who saw the patient. He told the Mail Online that he and the other four senior doctors had “never seen such a case before" in their many years of experience. He exclaimed, 'We felt we needed to publish the picture in a journal because it was such an extreme case.'

In order to combat the growths the team of physicians advised the patient to rotate his insulin injection site, to use smaller needles and prescribed a different type of insulin. Landau stated that the size of the growths would shrink, but that the man would need to undergo cosmetic surgery, most likely an abdominoplasty, to completely remove the abnormalities.

The medical experts wrote in the New England Journal of Medicine that the case illuminated the necessity for more detailed advice for diabetic patients. Landau added, 'Sadly many people with diabetes haven't received proper education in terms of how to give an insulin shot correctly. It needn't be so.'

The patient did not attend his scheduled follow up appointments so the doctors do not know his current health status.

It is highly recommended that any person enduring any condition stay informed and keep current with any developments of their disease.

If you have any questions regarding diabetes or cosmetic surgery please contact a physician.