Stress and Diabetes

Hi,
I'm doing a presentation for a Microbiology course on stress and the immmune system. It's due in a week. One of the topics I would like to talk about is how stress affects diabetes. I know stress is strongly linked to diabetes and other auto-immune diseases, but I'm having a hard time finding good information from my research. Can you let me know how stress can cause diabetes? I would also like to know how stress affects the body once a person has diabetes. Any information at a cellular level or having to do with glucose changes because of stress would be greatly appreciated. Thank you.

[JDRF-Team-sgg]

Look, your question about cellular level changes is causing this JDRF volunteer great stress, and if I pass out from hypoglycemia, it will be your fault. Just kidding! I can only answer your questions from a common sense and experience approach, not on the basis of understanding cellular level changes caused by stress, but perhaps this can give you some basics to work with.

First, your question about stress perhaps CAUSING diabetes... Type 1 diabetes cannot be caused by stress unless a person had a very unusual and unlikely autoimmune reaction to stress (I have never heard of that happening), but type 2 diabetes probably could be induced by prolonged stress. Here's the common sense reason why I state this: if stress causes the body's metabolism to speed up, it makes sense that insulin production could be increased as everything else works faster and harder. This would perhaps be especially true of folks who perhaps have over-reactive pancreases that perhaps over-produce insulin easily when triggered by high-carbohydrate foods or perhaps stress. If this goes on long enough, I could see it possibly causing that person's pancreas to simply wear itself out, causing diabetes. While stress in and of itself probably would not cause the average healthy person to become a diabetic, I could see stress being a factor perhaps in folks with overly sensitive pancreases.

Now, for the type 1 diabetic who takes insulin in order to live, stress is not a cause, but certainly affects daily glucose levels. I speak from experience as a type 1 diabetic for 34 years. In my case, stress (either GOOD or BAD stress) causes my blood sugar levels to drop and I become hypoglycemic. I beleive that any kind of stress in my case speeds up metabolism, burning off more carbs and perhaps speeding up the absorption of insulin into my body. The combination causes severe hypoglycemia at times. Good stress such as the visit of a loved one from out of town or a family holiday can do this to me, for I become excited and happy, and things speed up and I then keel over. Bad stress such as moving to a new city or changing jobs can cause the same thing.  I have contacted other diabetics who find that their sugar levels RISE when under stress, so I really think it depends on the type 1 diabetic and how their bodies actually reacts to stress. Perhaps the folks who find that glucose levels rise under stress produce more hormones that block the effectiveness of insulin during those times. Stress from sickness causes most diabetics to have high blood sugars. Why this happens, I am afraid I do not know, but it happens to me as well as to others.

We volunteers for JDRF are well-read on diabetes and its treatmends and on how it affects the people who live with it, but most of us are not medical professionals. So I will leave you with these fairly basic responses, and suggest that you perhaps use my comments to perhaps spur a call to a local endocrinologist to ask the specific why's if you seek more specific information on how cells change during illness or stress.

The information I have given you is fairly well-known among diabetics and doctors who work with diabetics, and we do know that stress affects hormone production and in metabolism rates, two things that play a big part in glucose levels in humans.  I think those would be two basics to work from and to do more research on. I wish you the best while finishing your presentation for class.

[giraffe7983]

I'm posting a comment under my question for clarification. When I mentioned "cellular", I meant affects on T-cells, lymphocytes, etc., whether their levels rise or fall. Also how stress affects glucose levels. Thanks.

[giraffe7983]

Thank you so much for all of your help. Have a great holiday.

Kev

[pumpgirl03]

I know that when ever I have been stressed for one reason or another my blood sugar has gone up.

Also I do know that when your body is in a state of stress whether due to illness or others things your T-cell (WBC)  count will go up.

Hope this helps

[gmoney]

i dono, all i can tell u about stress and diabeties is that when i was stressed out(going to be in BIG trouble with parents because of cop call) I had 3 lows that day. All at unexpected times.

Personal experiance :)