New studies on stress and Type II diabetes
Just got this from Health Sciences Institute, one of my favorite sources of
healthy info, and had to pass it on!
Linda
STRESS EXIT
Health Sciences Institute e-Alert
November 12, 2002
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Dear Reader,
You hear people talk about life being stressful, or that we
live in stressful times. But this way of thinking portrays
stress as something that comes to us from an external source -
something we get bombarded with.
The fact is, life is demanding and times are difficult (as
they always have been), and stress is our reaction to demands
and difficulties. Stress happens on the inside. And that’s
good news, really, because while we can’t always control the
demands and difficulties of life, we do have the ability to
control stress. And - more good news - a new study shows that
controlling stress may significantly improve the health
concerns of type 2 diabetics.
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Instruction for less stress
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When insulin fails to deliver sugar from the blood to the
cells, the resulting buildup of glucose in the blood creates
the condition known as type 2 diabetes. The American Diabetes
Association suggests three ways to lower elevated blood
glucose levels: meal planning, exercise, and weight loss.
Searching for another way to help in this effort, researchers
at the Duke University Medical Center recently set out to
determine if stress management might improve glucose
metabolism in subjects with type 2 diabetes.
The Duke team created a stress management program with three
primary elements: behavioral skill instruction to help
subjects identify major stress sources and how to cope with
them; education on the ways that stress can affect health;
and demonstrations of a physical technique called progressive
muscle relaxation.
The Duke team examined a group of 72 subjects with type 2
diabetes. All of the subjects participated in a five-session
education program about diabetes. A little over half of the
subjects received the additional group-based stress
management program, which also ran five sessions. After the
sessions, all of the subjects were followed for one year,
participating in occasional questionnaires to assess anxiety,
psychological health and perceived stress. Also during this
follow-up year, all of the subjects’ hemoglobin A1C (HbA1c)
levels were measured at regular intervals. HbA1c is the
marker that is measured to assess type 2 diabetes.
At the end of the year, 32 percent of the stress management
group recorded HbA1c levels that were lower by one percent or
more. In the group that received only diabetes education, 12
percent showed a similar drop in HbA1c. Although these small
changes appear to be unimpressive, the researchers noted that
even a half percent reduction in HbA1c levels have been shown
to produce a significant decrease in diabetic complications.
The report concluded that group stress management would be a
valuable addition to any program of therapy in addressing
type 2 diabetes.
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Helping the heart
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Last winter I sent you an e-Alert ("Research Reveals the Most
Effective Action you can take to Prevent a Heart Attack"
2/14/02) about another stress study from the Duke University
Medical Center in which they tested a group of men with
coronary artery disease, using a research design similar to
the one used in the type 2 diabetes study. In the cardiac
trial, the results were much the same: the group that
participated in a stress management program showed
significantly fewer adverse cardiac events over a 5 year
period than the men who received no stress education.
Both of these studies illustrate how important it is to
manage our experience of stress. But of course, this is much
easier said than done. If you feel you need some assistance
in reducing your stress levels (and most of us probably do)
you might check with local health institutions in your
community. The Duke University Medical Center, for instance,
has established the Duke Center for Integrative Medicine,
offering consultation services and educational programs
designed to promote optimum health through the integration of
the health of the body with the health of the mind.
But what can you do to take control of stress right now?
Three key habits can be an enormous help in controlling
stress: eating nutritiously, getting the right amount of
sleep, and sticking with a regular exercise program. (Again -
all easier said than done.) It’s also important to recognize
the things that trigger your stress. You might take a moment
to sit down and make a list of the stress factors in your
life. Another step that many find helpful is to talk about
your stress with someone you trust. This is where a local
health institution may be able to offer guidance.
Clearly, stress management can be an important element in any
health regimen - and in fact may be one of the most positive
things you can do to maintain your best possible health.
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Safe help for obesity:
www.LoCarbCenter.com