Stress May Increase Risk of Type 2 Diabetes in Women

TUESDAY, November 6, 2018 (American Heart Association) – Traditional risk factors such as obesity, high blood pressure, and a sedentary lifestyle may not be the only predictors of diabetes mellitus. type 2. New research highlights the role that stress can play in the onset of the disease in women.

The study, presented on November 10 at the Scientific Sessions conference of the American Heart Association in Chicago, revealed that increasing stress resulting from traumatic events, as well as in long-term situations term at home or at work, was badociated with almost twice the risk of new cases of type 2 diabetes in older women.

"Psychosocial stressors as risk factors for diabetes need to be taken as seriously as other risk factors related to diabetes," said Jonathan Butler, principal investigator of the study and postdoctoral researcher at the University of California San Francisco, Center for Research on Adversity. and cardiovascular diseases.

Diabetes is a major public health problem, which would have affected approximately 30.3 million Americans in 2015, according to the latest data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Of these, 12 million are aged 65 and over.

"As older women make up a growing proportion of our population, we need to better understand the risk factors for diabetes in this group," Butler said.

Chronic disease where the body can not properly regulate blood sugar. Too much blood glucose can lead to a host of health problems, including heart disease, stroke, and kidney disease. Family history and age may play a role, but factors such as high cholesterol, high blood pressure, obesity, and physical inactivity make people more likely to type 2 diabetes.

However, researchers are beginning to look beyond physiological risk factors.

"It's been a while since we're trying to understand the link between stress, mental health and the risk of diabetes," said Dr. Sherita Hill Golden, a professor of medicine at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. in Baltimore. New evidence suggests that psychosocial stress and how people cope with stress can impact cardiometabolic health.

Previous studies on stress and diabetes focused on individual stressors, such as work or symptoms of depression or anxiety. Others have only looked at the snapshots in time. So, Butler and her colleagues began to understand the common relationship of several stressors with the risk of diabetes in women over time.

Researchers included data on 22,706 health professionals participating in the health study of women who did not have heart disease and who were, on average, 72 years old. They collected information on acute and chronic stressors and then followed women for three years on average. Acute stress included negative and traumatic life events, while chronic stress was related to work, family, relationships, finances, neighborhood, and discrimination.

Women with the highest levels of acute and chronic stress had almost double the risk of diabetes.

The next step will be to confirm the findings and identify targeted strategies for psychosocial stressors that can reduce the risk of diabetes in older women, said Dr. Michelle A. Albert, lead author of the report. study and professor of medicine at the University of California. , San Francisco.

"From a public health perspective, health care providers should educate themselves about psychosocial stressors as part of their diabetes risk badessment," she said.

For the time being, Mr. Golden stated that the new research highlighted the importance of considering the role of non-traditional risk factors, such as stress, in the onset of diabetes.

"We know that lifestyle interventions are effective in preventing diabetes, but it can be difficult if people experience cumulative stress, such as losing their job or taking care of a member of the family. their families, which prevent them from adopting healthy behaviors, such as exercising, quitting, "she said. "It is important to badess and understand the patient's social history and may need to be referred to a counselor or social worker."