Learning and practicing stress management skills may help lower glucose levels in people with Type II or late onset diabetes as much as some medications, according to a recently completed year-long study.
The research, under the leadership of Dr. Richard Surwit, has shown that practical techniques can have a significant impact on the long-term health of those afflicted with the disease.
"This study opens up a new venue of intervention for patients with Type II diabetes," said C.L. Edwards, assistant professor of psychiatry and director of the Chronic Pain Management Program, who was involved with interpreting the results. "This adds substantially to the patients' ability to help themselves."
Surwit, chief of the Division of Medical Psychology, first began his work with stress management and diabetes over 20 years ago, and said this project was a culmination of many studies.
The research focused on Type II diabetes because original studies showed that stress management only produced changes in Type II form. The disease develops during adulthood and causes the body to become immune to glucose.
The participants were mostly middle-aged working adults between the ages of 45 and 60, who underwent extensive training. "Study subjects were trained in five 30-minute sessions--the control group was taught basic diabetes education, while the experimental group was taught stress management techniques, such as progressive muscle relaxation skills," said Cynthia McCaskill, associate in research who helped train the control group.
Upon completion, McCaskill saw the patients to test their glucose levels after two, four, six and 12 months had elapsed.
"We tested the subjects for Hemoglobin A 1c--a part of the blood that becomes bound to glucose--and a common test for people who have diabetes," Surwit said.
On average, the patients in the experimental group lowered their glucose levels by 0.5 percent, while over one-third of that group produced even better results, lowering their blood sugar levels by 1 percent.
By comparison, only 12 percent of the control group patients lowered their glucose levels by at least 1 percent.
"We were able to lower blood sugar about as much as some medications on the market," said Dr. Mark Feinglos, chief of the Division of Endocrinology, who also interpreted the results of the study.
Although the research focused on Type II diabetes, Surwit said he does not rule out the possibility that stress management could prove to be beneficial to Type I patients--who are unable to produce insulin at all--in the future. Nevertheless, he remained pleased with the results.
"The participants learned to recognize the signs of physiological stress, and how to produce the opposite effect," Surwit said. "If people can learn to manage stress it will also decrease the chance of other adverse effects of diabetes, such as heart disease, blindness, kidney disease and neuropsy."
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