The Effects of Stress on Diabetes

Stress and blood sugar levels

Diabetes Type 2 severity is dependent on blood sugar levels in the body. The amount of stress you are under can have a lot to do with that. Are you badly stressed, and, more to the point, are you handling your stress properly? It could be a bigger problem than you imagine.

What is Stress?

You may not know the particulars of this stress but I'm sure you know what it feels like. However, there is good stress as well as bad stress and they both affect the body in different ways. In this article we are mainly talking about bad stress, but we will begin by discussing the good form to avoid confusion.

In general terms, when we feel stressed it is the only the body's reaction to particular situations. It could be losing ones job, a family bereavement, a very noisy or antagonistic neighbour, or any other number of things. Our response to these situations is what determines the amount of stress and the type of stress we experience.

Good stress is experienced when a situation brings about a positive response to something in your life. For example a first parachute jump may be a type of good stress, providing it's for pleasure of course. Your body feels under stress when it pushes itself further to help you do something where you want to succeed. However, good stress does not have the same effect on blood sugar levels as bad stress does, so let us now look at bad stress more closely.

Bad stress is the outcome of a situation which culminates in a negative effect to your body and life. A trauma such as a family bereavement or serious loss of income may lead to bad stress that can be very difficult to overcome. This can often end up with you suffering from headaches, poor diet, unusual behaviour patterns, and more.

Is it flight or fight?

When you are first confronted by a bad or dangerous situation, your body gets ready to react. Pupils dilate, your heart is suddenly pounding like it is going to burst, and adrenaline increases dramatically. Your body is now ready to do one of two things - flight or fight. These changes are necessary to enable the body to do either of these things.

Now, when the body cells secrete extra adrenaline, it is also likely that it is allowing extra glucose to enter the bloodstream which is made immediately available for the extra energy required for flight or fight. That saturation of adrenalin may be the reason that a person can seem to have super strength when faced with a life-threatening situation.

When bad situations seem to get worse and worse the bloodstream can become inundated with too much sugar and all of that sugar can not be used by for energy. This results in a prolonged exposure to high sugar levels which, over time, can cause organ and other tissue damage.

Eventually all this unused sugar in the body can lead to insulin sensitivity and that is a condition that can lead to diabetes Type 2. This means that the body may no longer be able to produce enough insulin to move the excess sugar to where it is needed.

We must accept that stress is a part of everyday life, however, if the effects of stress in your life are not controlled, you can end up putting yourself at risk of contracting Type 2 diabetes. That is why learning to manage your physical and mental stress can be crucial to keeping your blood sugar levels at the proper level can help prevent diabetes.

As always, if you have any fears or worries regarding diabetes, your first port of call should be to seek medical advice. Keep safe.