Depression and Diabetes

Thank you for this - yes, motivation to exercise is hard to come by when depressed.

fascinating - unscientific though this is - it occurs to me that most daredevils and adventures are thin - I wonder if DM is low among them too.

You have touched on an essential understanding that resonates with me. Depression often does accompany diabetes and I am sure that the scientific reasons have been recorded somewhere. I like the idea that by using exercise we can begin to reverse the experience of depression. My endocrinologist often includes meds for depression as part of his approach to the treatment of diabetes. I am sure help some too. But walking, hiking and exercise seem to be an good response to depression. Thanks for the insight and suggestion. I think the wisdom in your group is a value to all of us. And if you can do it you have added gains.

David,

I have a question.  What is the precentages of people with othere { size: 8.5in 11in; margin: 0.79in } P { margin-bottom: 0.08in } -->

chronic disease with depression?  I would think anyone with a chronic disease has higher than normal levels of stress hormones.

Judy

I think the other hard part to tease out is physical vs. psychological- it would be absurd to reduce depression to a physical symptom- imagine an alien race that, instead of saying "I'm depressed" or "I'm sad", they say "My cortisol levels are high"- it seems to me that depression is a natural reaction to a traumatic event (cortisol levels and all)- we then mourn and the depression passes- the problem with chronic depression is that it lingers- I think that in this way depression is psychological- we relive the trauma's effects in our minds- so this is different than the physical trauma- noone can relive getting hit by a bus- and this has treatment ramifications- drugs treat the physical symptoms and psychotherapy treats the psychological- if diabetes amplifies depression, then the physical treatment is used to control the diabetes, but surely the mind must also come to embrace the diabetes and overcome it with positive lifestyle changes- this way, there is no 'negative' to dwell on- in the end, I always liked Nietzsche's quip: great men have short memories

David,

Here are two blog entries where Dr Michael Eades discusses the relation between stress, cortisol, insulin, hunger and abdominal fat:

http://www.proteinpower.com/drmike/uncategorized/fat-and-happy/

http://www.proteinpower.com/drmike/uncategorized/fat-and-happy-ii/

He concludes here and in other blog entries that a low carb diet (not exercise) is the best way to deal with the effects of stress and the "stress loop" that we can fall into with poor diet.  I also note that this is Gary Taubes conclusion as well.

Philip Thackray

David,

For those who enjoy learning about metabolism and nutrition at the biochemical level, (especially as it relates to low carb living) I recommend the Hyperlipid blog ( http://high-fat-nutrition.blogspot.com/ ) from England. 

Peter puts up serial posts on various themed thought processes.  Below are three very interesting and informative themes and the address of the first post in that theme.  To continue on to newer posts in the same theme, (from any of the posts below), scroll down on the right hand side of the page until you see a label starting with the (partial) theme title I have listed.

Physiological insulin resistance.  Six blog entries starting with:

http://high-fat-nutrition.blogspot.com/search/label/Physiological%20insulin%20resistance%20%281%29

AGE (Advanced Glycation End products).  Eleven blog entries starting with:

http://high-fat-nutrition.blogspot.com/search/label/AGE%20RAGE%20and%20ALE%20%281%29%3A%20The%20AGE%20of%20LDL

Fiaf (Fasting induced adipose factor).  Five blog entries starting with:

http://high-fat-nutrition.blogspot.com/search/label/Fiaf%20%281%29%20Who%27s%20fat%20is%20it%20anyway%3F

Regards,

Philip Thackray

the link to your book or discussion here doesn't work:

Losing Weight with Your Diabetes Medication

A couple of months ago I had been being lazy with my monitoring ( I'm pill-controlled: metformin 850 x 3) and was concerned that my levels were high - over 10 mmol mostly. So I took on further diet control, cut out a lot of snacks and reduced my carbs plus high monitoring. I maintained my exercise levels at 4 - 5 times a week stationary cycling in front of my pooter for min 25 minutes above 120 bpm heartrate + walking the remaining days.

I'm glad to say I am now running at <8 and sometimes <5 mmol and losing weight. ( I was a tad overweight for 6'2" at 14 stone 8 and am now <14.

Regarding stress - I came across a study a while back, no refs unfortunately, that linked maternal depression during gestation with poor ability of the foetus to control depression in adulthood. The speed at which cortisol was 'cleared' from the system after alarm was compromised. I am curious whether there is more known about this link?

peter

I participate in the LooK Ahead study.

At a retention event a researcher stated that Diabetics that walk do not have depression.

This may not have been published jet.