Stress, Diabetes Linked in Obese Black Women

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Obese black women may face a greater risk of developing type 2 diabetes due to stress, a recent study suggested. Almost one-quarter of American black women have type 2 diabetes, according to the American Diabetes Association. “Much attention has been given to the role of obesity in the development of type 2 diabetes, but stress may be as important in this at-risk population,” study co-author Anastasia Georgiades, of Duke University in Durham, N.C., said in a news release.

The study, presented at the annual scientific meeting of the American Psychosomatic Society, examined the blood levels of glucose and epinephrine in 62 healthy, non-diabetic black women as they remembered stressful life experiences. Epinephrine is the body’s “fight or flight” hormone that it secretes in response to stress.

Women whose bodies displayed a high epinephrine release (25 picograms or more per milliliter of blood) while recalling stressful experiences, and who had a greater percentage of belly fat (33 percent or more of total body fat) had much higher fasting glucose levels (about 100 milligrams per deciliter) than women with lower epinephrine levels (85 mg/dl) and less belly fat. A fasting blood glucose level of 100 mg/dl falls within the low range of pre-diabetes, while a level of 125 mg/dl is considered a marker for full type 2 diabetes.

The high-epinephrine/more-belly-fat women also had larger increases in blood glucose levels during the stress test.

“While we don’t fully understand the nature of the association, women with abdominal obesity may be more vulnerable to the impact of stress – causing their body to increase blood sugar production and elevating their risk for diabetes,” Georgiades said.

The researchers said additional experimentation will be required to discover the precise link between epinephrine production and blood sugar levels in black women.

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Stress, Diabetes Linked in Obese Black Women

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