Researchers are slowly zeroing in on the long-suspected link
between stress and type-2 diabetes, which accounts for 90 percent of all
diabetes cases. Anxiety is now believed to exacerbate diabetes by raising
levels of the stress hormone cortisol, which regulates insulin and
blood-sugar levels.
Obesity and a sedentary lifestyle remain the most treatable factors
associated with type-2 diabetes, but stress management can also be very
effective, according to one study presented at the 2002 American
Psychological Association annual meeting. Subjects who completed
stress-management training, in which they were instructed in deep
breathing and muscle relaxation, had significantly lower levels of
hemoglobin. Elevated hemoglobin levels are a red flag for type-2 diabetes
sufferers.
For patients already in control of their diabetes through proper
diet and exercise, a reduction in stress "might bring them to near normal
[hemoglobin] levels," says lead researcher Richard Surwit, Ph.D., of Duke
University Medical Center. "For those with poorer control, it probably
would not lower hemoglobin levels significantly, but the reduction is
associated with fewer diabetes complications for them as well."
Researchers are also beginning to explore stress as a precursor to
diabetes. Peter Vitaliano, Ph.D., of the University of Washington,
compared 47 nondiabetic subjects who cared for spouses with Alzheimer's
disease to a control group of 77 noncaregivers who were also free of
diabetes. Vitaliano found that levels of cortisol, glucose and insulin
were higher in the caregivers than in non-caregivers. "The caregivers
experienced feelings of fear, lack of control and depression, which
contributed to chronically high levels of the stress hormone cortisol.
These people are at potentially higher risk for diabetes," says
Vitaliano, who presented his findings at a meeting of the Society of
Behavioral Medicine.
"Many people don't understand that there is a real connection
between stress and diabetes--they think the only variables are diet and
exercise," says Vitaliano.
Between 1990 and 1998, type-2 diabetes increased 33 percent in the
United States and was up 76 percent among people in their
thirties.
Some researchers speculate that the stress of modern life and
longer working hours contribute to these dramatic increases.
