COLUMBUS – A new study led by researchers at Ohio State links a stress hormone with higher blood levels in people with Type 2 diabetes, illustrating the importance of reducing stress among the 30 million Americans who suffer from the disease.
In a study published online in the journal Psychoneuroendocrinology, researchers at the Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center and the OSU College of Medicine say the stress hormone cortisol is responsible for maintaining higher blood sugar levels in people with type 2 diabetes.
In healthy people, cortisol fluctuates naturally throughout the day, spiking in the morning and falling at night,” said Dr. Joshua Joseph, an endocrinologist and researcher at the OSU Wexner Medical Center’s Diabetes and Metabolism Research Center who led the study.
“But in participants with type 2 diabetes, cortisol profiles that were flatter throughout the day, had higher glucose levels,” he said.
Previous research has shown that stress and depression are two of the major causes of higher sustained levels of cortisol, which make it more difficult for patients to control blood sugar and manage the disease, Joseph said.
He says that is why it is important for those with Type 2 diabetes to find ways to reduce stress.
Joseph and his team believe the stress hormone likely plays an important role in diabetes prevention and they continue to research the connection between cortisol and the development of diabetes and cardiovascular disease.