Type 2 Diabetes - Can Depression Affect Diabetes Control?

The end of December is a stressful time of year when depression can be a problem for even the healthiest of us. People diagnosed with diabetes can be particularly vulnerable. Diabetes and depression are often seen together, and depressed patients tend to have poor blood sugar control.

According to researchers at the University of Nebraska Medical Center and Offutt Air Force Base in the United States, depression and dissatisfaction with diabetes treatment can go hand in hand.

This particular study, published in the Journal of Diabetes and Metabolism, included 545 patients with poorly controlled Type 2 diabetes. More than 35 per cent of these patients suffered from depression, which was associated with high HbA1c percentages and LDL cholesterol. As levels of depression went up, satisfaction with diabetes treatment went down.

From this information it was concluded although cause and effect cannot be proven, it is possible depression could lead to lower treatment satisfaction, which could lead to patients just not complying with good treatment plans. Noncompliance, of course, could lead to higher levels of blood sugar and cholesterol levels.

December can be a stressful time of year if you feel you need to spend your way into debt and use up all your energy baking and decorating. It can be a time of eating too much of the wrong foods, feeling guilty, gaining weight, and hurting your health if you let it. Instead...

• try planning ahead with a budget and sticking to it.
• make a list of gifts that are within your budget before you enter the mall with its giant Christmas tree and music luring you to spend more than you should.
• time your shopping so you are finished before ltnch-time or start out in the afternoon so you are not caught hungry in the mall food court.
• if you do eat at the food court, pick a veggie delight. All those Santa Clauses and elves don't mean you strictly have to eat the red and green sugary goo.

If it makes you happy to decorate for holidays by all means do so but if you look forward to it with dread, remember it's not strictly required you make your home look like an advertisement for Martha Stuart products. If other family members want decorations, ask them to pitch in and help you with them. The same goes for holiday dinners. It's alright to ask for help. Ask everyone who is coming to bring something so you do not feel overwhelmed. Guests like to bring food, especially if you compliment them on their great salad dressing or special dessert.

One way to save money and give yourself a break at the same time, is by making crafts. During the new year try learning to knit and make some warm scarves for friends and family. By next December you'll be ready with your beautiful work and you will have given yourself some restful time sitting with your knitting needles and watching your favorite television program.

Type 2 diabetes is not a condition you must just live with. It need not slowly and inevitably get worse. Take control of the disease and avoid having poorly controlled blood sugar. This will help to prevent depression developing.

For nearly 25 years Beverleigh Piepers has searched for and found a number of secrets to help you build a healthy body.

The answer isn't in the endless volumes of available information but in yourself.