Address Stress Before it Throws Open the Doors for Diabetes

Mental Health Too Defines your Risk of Diabetes

There’s a reason to fear every other season in life. Blood pressure and diabetes created a catastrophe in human lives a decade back and we have become used to the fact that these ailments are common to any of us irrespective of the age group. Of late is the mystery, hype and sensation surrounding stress. The most-often used word for reasoning out the base behind many healthy conditions these days is STRESS. Its surprising to see 12-year-old children, 25-year-old youngsters as well as 50-year-old individuals quoting stress as the reason behind their failures and lack of interest in life. At the tender age of 12 when kids are blessed with a life to enjoy there are many children who wish to end lives owing to academic pressure and peer pressure. At the age of 25 when youngsters must be brimming with overpouring energy to explore the beauties of life and command great success in their jobs many wish to commit suicide as a result of love failure and job dissatisfaction. At the age of 50 when parents/individuals are almost settled and looking forward for a calm retired life many are suffering from neck-deep loans and economic crisis. Loans, suicide and pressure existed decades back too, but the rates were never as high as now. 

Give Rest to Stress
It was obesity, high BP and inactive lifestyle conditions that prevailed as risk factors for Type 2 diabetes but now stress has joined the list. Latest research shows that stress might prove to be a major diabetes predictor.

Diabetes rates are almost said to tripe by 2030 affecting more than 552 million people from where it was in 2011. Diabetes was associated with modifiable risk factors such as smoking, unhealthy diet, physical inactivity, hypertension, obesity and abnormal cholesterol levels until now and the latest addition is psychological stress. Non-modifiable risk factors such as family history and age also play a role in causing diabetes. Most of the risk factors mentioned here are controllable but still the rates are increasing like never before.

Characterized by an inefficient blood sugar regulation when too much of glucose remains in the body diabetes can pave way for bigger diseases such as heart problems, stroke and kidney disease. While physiological factors took the front seat in driving the person towards diabetes until now, scientists and researchers are now focused on understanding the basic link between diabetes and stress. Its not something new and previous studies have focused on individual stressors such as work or depression, but the latest study tried to link multiple stressors and its impact on diabetes.

The study included more than 27,000 women aged around 72 years who were devoid of heart disease. The research team followed these women for three years after fetching data about their acute and chronic stressors. Acute stress included life events that were traumatic/negative while chronic stress included work-, finance-, relationship-, family- and discrimination-related stress. The team found that women who experienced maximum chronic and acute stress were at a two-times higher risk of diabetes than others. Another Swedish study found that chronic stress increased the risk of type 1 or type 2 diabetes by 45% while an Australian study sometime back found that high levels of stress was associated with abnormal glucose metabolism in women but not men.
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We are well aware that lifestyle changes can prevent the risk of type 2 diabetes but if there is some form of stress that affects the individual’s day-to-day routine and prevents him/her from following healthy routines (such as eating healthy and exercising daily) it becomes quite challenging to combat stress. But it is not long before type 2 diabetes surpasses cardiovascular disease as the numero uno chronic disease affecting people. Isn’t it wise to get things under control and reduce the risk of type 2 diabetes as much as possible with timely intervention before diabetes disaster rules over the world? Get in touch with reputed dietitian nutritionists at www.firsteatright.com who specialize in diabetes-friendly diets to get a healthy diet plan and exercise schedule to meet your requirements.