A typical metabolic condition is type 2 diabetes. According to Mezuk (2008), this disorder affects more than 220 million individuals worldwide. Due to the new lifestyles that contemporary people are adopting, the number is predicted to increase. Patients with this form of diabetes are more likely to acquire lifestyle diseases like retinopathy and neuropathy, in addition to other heart diseases. In addition, the patients' chance of developing depression is twice as high as that of healthy individuals. There are a lot of diabetic patients who experience mental stress. Obesity, sedentary lifestyles, and advanced age are additional risk factors for diabetes. Interestingly stress has been suspected among factors that have important effects on the development of diabetes. The aim of the review is to investigate the relationship between type 2 diabetes and the different forms of emotional stress.
The Stress Concept
The weight concept was developed in the year 1930 by Has Seiye. His work was a buildup of Canon`s work. According to Seiye stress refers to the non-specific response of the body towards a particular demand. Usually, the body undergoes through three stages while dealing with the stressor. They include the alarm phase, the resistance phase, and the exhaustion phase. The term stress has changed its meaning as currently, it refers to the consequences of the body to respond appropriately to emotional threats. The symptoms of stress can be defined in behavioral, cognitive, emotional, physical and behavioral level. The cognitive signs include poor judgment, poor concentration, low self –esteem and negative cognitions. Physical symptoms include diarrhea or constipation, dizziness, nausea, pains and rapid heartbeat. Emotional signs include moodiness, feeling of anxiety, irritability, agitation as well as feelings isolation. The behavioral sign, on the other hand, includes eating too much, sleeping too much or not enough, social withdrawal neglect or procrastination of responsibilities, increased drug and alcohol intake. According to Sieye, the body may fail to function or shut down at the exhaustion stage. According to Mezuk et al. (2008), the body`s response towards stress is always meant to maintain the body`s stability although there are cases where adverse effects result from the reply.
Depression and Type 2 Diabetes
Recently there has been two meta-analyses that examined whether the aspect of depression increases the onset of type 2 diabetes. Based on the recent studies, the first to conclude that the point of depression increases the risk of diabetes by about 37%. Mezuk et al. (2008) later found that depression is a risk factor for diabetes. In the studies, both depression and anxiety were seen as the risk factors that increases the development of diabetes. In the year 2000, Mooy et al. used data from various study to test whether chronic stress is associated with diabetes. They found that people who had experienced significant life events for the past five years had about 1.6 fold increased risks of developing type 2 diabetes. The researchers found that middle-aged people who frequently experienced intense, angry, tension or expanded stress develop metabolic syndromes that lead to diabetes.
Risk of Type 2 Diabetes and General Emotional Stress
There have been several studies that have been aimed at testing the hypothesis that general emotional stress is usually associated with type 2 diabetes. A group of Danish researchers was the first to be involved in this kind of study. The longitudinal study was aimed at investigating the long-term effects of emotional stress on the body`s metabolism. After a careful investigation of more than 7000 volunteers, Rod et al. noted that stressed women and men develop diabetes during the follow-up. Interestingly the group pointed out that the participants who reported the high level of stress were probably victims who quitted from smoking, drinking alcohol or became inactive. All the conditions are usually with the onset of diabetes.
In Japan, a community- based cohort study was conducted to determine the association of the beginning of type 2 diabetes and perceived stress. More than 55000 participants aged between forty and seventy years of age were followed for about ten years. The members were allowed to fill a questionnaire that questioned on diabetes as well as other lifestyle factors that are critical in the onset of the condition. Like the Danish study, it was clear that the rate of diabetes increased with the increase in the level of stress. The aspect affected most men as compared to women (Toshihiro et al. 2008).
Another study was conducted by Toshihiro et al. (2008) in Japan. The study had 128 men as the participants. The people were suffering from impaired metabolism of glucose. The members were supposed to fill in a high score questionnaire that aimed at investigating their daily lifestyles. The results of the study were similar to the above studies as increased risk of developing diabetes followed the growth in the stress level. Golden et al. (2005) also conducted a longitudinal study whose participants were non-diabetic men aged between 48 and 67 years. The study found out that anger especially the temperate form acted as one of the onset factors of diabetes. Large intake of calorie and adiposity are the other factors that worked as the onsets of the condition.
Work Stress and Diabetes
Research have shown that excessive work especially due to a commitment to work is closely associated with the development of this disorder. The imbalance in the effort and rewards of jobs risks more men to diabetes while the aspect doesn’t affect women. Burn-out that results from excessive work are also associated with diabetes. Heraclides et al. 2009 conducted research to investigate the relationship between working stress and development of diabetes. The results showed that stress at work appeared as an independent factor in causing diabetes among the ladies but not in men. The firm association of weight and collaborate in women remained stable and only reduced by the adjustment of new lifestyles that prompted their health life.
Distressed Stress and Diabetes
Poor sleeping is a critical factor in causing emotional stress. However, emotional stress can affect different aspects such initiation, sleep duration as well a sleep quality. Usually, sleeping problems may not be the only cause of emotional stress although they are significant sources. Research shows that frequent sleep disturbances are associated with type 2 diabetes. Difficulties in initiating sleep is also a contributing factor to the onset of type 2 diabetes. Interestingly, research shows that people who were asleep long hours are at risk of developing type 2 diabetes. Careful in the maintenance of sleep is associated with more than 80% risk of developing this disorder. Overweight is a major danger of this type of diabetes. The aspect is due to overweight contribute to snoring problems as well as sleep apnea that usually results in sleeping issues that are major factors in the development of diabetes
Emotional stress increases the risk of developing type 2 diabetes through various pathways. Research shows that emotional stress usually associated with unhealthy lifestyles and behaviors. There are aspects such as poor sleeping habits, poor eating and low level of exercises as well as drug use act as primary contributing factors for type 2 diabetes. Chronic depressions and stress reactions are characterized by long-term effect of inactivating the hypothalamic- pituitary axis and the sympathetic kind of nervous system. The aspect is mostly associated with a development of obesity that results in chronic stress that acts as an onset of diabetes. Stress also initiate changes in the immune system. According to (Leonard and Myint, 2009) an increase in the concentration of cytokines and glucocorticoids in response to stress and depression causes changes in behavioral that are said to evoke diabetes. Research shows that activation of the immune system due to stress provokes the psychological and physical factors that cause diabetes. Disturbance in sleep and depression are associated with activated and hypercytokinemia that leads to stress that acts as an onset to this kind of disorder. The aspect means that inflammatory processes are major that are involved in the pathogenesis of the disease.
Conclusions
The research findings in the above reviews support the notion that emotional stress is associated with increased risks of developing diabetes. The aspect of stress that acts as an onset of diabetes include general emotional stress, depression, anger or hostility as well as the sleeping problem. Longitudinal studies using healthy women as participants revealed that people who had experienced life events were at risk of developing metabolic syndromes such as diabetes. Work related stress is also a major factor that contributes to the assertion of some behavioral changes that are risk factors for developing lifestyle diseases. An eating disorder that encourages overeating are the primary causes of obesity. The disease usually is accompanied by many other endangering conditions that in most cases result in this kind of diabetes.
References
Golden, S. H., Williams, J. E., Ford, D. E., Yeh, H. C., Sanford, C. P., Nieto, F. J., & Brancati, F. L. (2006). Anger temperament is modestly associated with the risk of type 2 diabetes mellitus: The Atheroslcerosis Risk in Communities Study. Psychoneuroendocrinology, 31(3), 325-332.
Heraclides, A., Chandola, T., Witte, D. R., & Brunner, E. J. (2009). Psychosocial stress at work doubles the risk of type 2 diabetes in middle-aged women. Diabetes care, 32(12), 2230-2235.
Leonard, B. E., & Myint, A. (2009). The psychoneuroimmunology of depression. Human Psychopharmacology: clinical and experimental, 24(3), 165-175.
Mezuk, B., Eaton, W. W., Albrecht, S., & Golden, S. H. (2008). Depression and type 2 diabetes over the lifespan. Diabetes care, 31(12), 2383-2390.
Mooy, J. M., De Vries, H., Grootenhuis, P. A., Bouter, L. M., & Heine, R. J. (2000). Major stressful life events in relation to prevalence of undetected type 2 diabetes: The Hoorn Study. Diabetes Care, 23(2), 197-201.
Toshihiro, M., Saito, K., Takikawa, S., Takebe, N., Onoda, T., & Satoh, J. (2008). Psychosocial factors are independent risk factors for the development of type 2 diabetes in Japanese workers with impaired fasting glucose and/or impaired glucose tolerance1. Diabetic medicine, 25(10), 1211-1217.
Links
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0306453005001861
http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/hup.1011/full
http://care.diabetesjournals.org/content/31/12/2383.short
http://care.diabetesjournals.org/content/32/12/2230.short
http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1464-5491.2008.02566.x/full
http://care.diabetesjournals.org/content/23/2/197.short
