Men: High stress levels increases diabetes risk

In addition to a laundry list of negative impacts stress can have on your health, here's another one that men can add to the tally: stress.

In a study from the Sahlgrenska Academy at the University of Gothenburg, researchers found that men who reported continuous high levels of stress were more likely to develop diabetes.

Details of the study

About 7,000 men from Sweden were recruited for the study, which lasted about 35 years. In the beginning of the research period, about 15.5 percent of men reported experiencing "permanent" stress in either their work or home environments. A six-point scale was used to determine how severe the men's stress levels were, and there were three main categories of stress: permanent stress, no stress or periodic stress.

At the end of the study, the men who reported permanent stress were 45 percent more likely to develop type 2 diabetes than the men in the other two categories.

Diabetes risk still high despite risk factors

Even after researchers accounted for other diabetes risk factors--like high blood pressure or obesity--the impact of stress remained the same. However, the authors note that it's not clear whether stress caused diabetes or if developing diabetes caused the permanent stress.

The findings, however, are still significant for health care providers who continue to grapple with the devastating impact diabetes is having on a global level--both in terms of public health and financial costs.

"Self-perceived permanent stress is an important long-term predictor of diagnosed diabetes, independently of socio-economic status, BMI and other conventional Type 2 diabetes risk factors," the researchers wrote.

The study is published in the journal Diabetic Medicine.

Source: Huffington Post