This article is more than 5 years old. Information may no longer be current.
Low stress resilience in young men increases risk for later diabetes
Young Swedish military conscripts identified during a psychological examination as having low stress resilience were more likely to develop type 2 diabetes in later adulthood than those with higher resilience, according to research in Diabetologia.
Casey Crump, MD, PhD, of the department of medicine at Stanford University, and colleagues analyzed data from 1,534,425 men without a prior diagnosis of diabetes. At age 18 years, between 1969 and 1997, the men underwent a military conscription examination, including a 20- to 30-minute interview to assess stress resilience (ability to cope with the psychological requirements of military service on a scale of 1 to 9). Researchers followed the cohort for type 2 diabetes, identified from inpatient and outpatient diagnoses between 1987 and 2012 (median age at end of follow-up, 46.1 years).
During follow-up, 34,008 (2.2%) developed type 2 diabetes; median age at diagnosis was 46.8 years. After adjusting for BMI, family history of diabetes and socioeconomic factors, men in the lowest quintile of stress resilience had a 1.5-fold risk for developing type 2 diabetes vs. men in the highest quintile (HR = 1.51; 95% CI, 1.46-1.57). Researchers found a linear trend in the risk for type 2 diabetes across the full range of stress resilience (P < .0001). Researchers found no evidence of a meaningful interaction between stress resilience and BMI, family history, education level or socioeconomic status and type 2 diabetes risk.
“The mechanisms by which stress resilience may influence the development of type 2 diabetes are probably complex and involve unhealthy lifestyle behaviors as well as other physiological factors,” the researchers wrote. “Chronic stress also activates the innate immune system, resulting in increased levels of interleukin-6 and other cytokine mediators of the acute-phase response, which are involved in mediating insulin resistance and are strong predictors of type 2 diabetes.” – by Regina Schaffer
Disclosure: The researchers report no relevant financial disclosures.