Researchers at the Ann Arbor V.A. Healthcare System in Flint, Michigan evaluated the impact of telephone-delivered cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) targeting diabetic patients' management of depressive symptoms, physical activity levels, and diabetes-related outcomes. Concern about the need for between-visit support in this population was what generated this study.
Two hundred ninety-one patients with type 2 diabetes and significant depressive symptoms (Beck Depression Inventory scores ≥ 14) were recruited from community-based, university-based, and Veterans Affairs health care systems.
A manualized telephone CBT program was delivered weekly by nurses for 12 weeks, followed by 9 monthly booster sessions. Sessions initially focused exclusively on patients' depression management and then added a pedometer-based walking program.
Researchers from the University of Heidelberg in Germany examined the long term impact of a mindfulness based intervention (MBSR) on patients with type 2 diabetes over 5 years, as compared with treatment as usual. Psychosocial distress (depression, stress), progression of nephropathy and subjective health status were measured. This article presents data up to the first year of follow-up.
Patients with type 2 diabetes and micro-albuminuria were randomized to a mindfulness-based intervention (n = 53) or a treatment-as-usual control condition (n = 57).
Researchers from the Department of Pediatrics at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles conducted a 4-week pilot study to determine whether Interactive Guided Imagery could be effective for stress reduction (and therefore reduce the metabolic disease risk associated with obesity and hypercortisolism) in overweight Latino adolescents.
Researchers from the All India Institute of Medical Sciences in New Delhi examined the short-term impact of a brief yoga intervention on some of the biochemical risk indicators for cardiovascular disease and diabetes mellitus.
Ninety-eight subjects (67 male, 31 female), ages 20-74, with hypertension, coronary artery disease, diabetes mellitus, and a variety of other illnesses, participated in a lifestyle training program that consisted of yoga asanas (postures), pranayama (breathing exercises), relaxation techniques, group support, individualized advice, lectures and films on the philosophy of yoga and the place of yoga in daily life, meditation, stress management, nutrition, and knowledge about their disease.
Two Meditation Sessions Reduce Postprandial Glucose in People with Diabetes
Fifty-five subjects with Type 2 Diabetes derive significant benefit (glucose, blood pressure) from 2 sessions of simple sitting-breathing meditation.
Researchers from the Division of Preventive and Social Medicine at Pranangklao General Hospital in Nonthaburi, Thailand evaluated the hypoglycemic effect of a Sitting-Breathing Meditation protocol ("Somporn Kantaradusdi-Triamchaisri Technique 1" or "SKT1") on Type 2 diabetic patients.
A study out of Xinjiang Medical University in China shows that occupational stress increases blood sugar in a group of female oil field workers, but not cholesterol.
Researchers from the Department of Occupational Health at Xinjiang Medical University in China studied the effects of occupational stress on immunological function, glucose, and blood lipid levels of female workers.
Occupational role, personal strain, and personal abilities were assessed in 900 female workers working in an oil-field setting (the observation group) and in 220 female workers in other occupational settings (controls).
Once again a pilot study shows that self-regulation techniques - this time biofeedback and relaxation - are effective at reducing blood glucose levels and HbA1c in people with Type 2 Diabetes.
Researchers at the Department of Psychiatry, Medical University of Ohio in Toledo conducted randomized, controlled clinical trials to determine the effects of biofeedback and relaxation on blood glucose and HbA1c (A1C) in patients with type 2 diabetes.
Reviewers from the University of Virginia conclude that thermal biofeedback can improve peripheral circulation, pain, neuropathy, ulcer healing, ambulatory activity, and quality of life in people with diabetes mellitus with impaired blood flow to the limbs.
Researchers from The Center for the Study of Complementary and Alternative Therapies at The University of Virginia Health System in Charlottesville reviewed studies of thermal biofeedback as an intervention designed to help people with diabetes mellitus with the impaired peripheral blood flow that often occurs with this condition, causing complications, lower-extremity pain, reduced functional status, and impaired quality of life.
A new study from the National Institute on Aging finds that guided imagery helps elderly patients to remember to take their medicine. Researchers Linda Liu, Ph.D., of the University of Michigan, and Denise Park, Ph.D., of the University of Illinois
found that older adults who spent a few minutes imagining and picturing
how they would test their blood sugar were 50 percent more likely to
actually do these tests on a regular basis than those who used other
memory techniques requiring far more conscious effort.
Thirty-one non-diabetic elderly volunteers were taught to do home blood
glucose tests. The participants, ages 60 to 81, were randomly assigned
to one of three groups and told to monitor their blood sugar levels
four specific times daily. They were not allowed to use timers, alarms
or other devices.
Angela McGrady at The Medical College of Ohio studied the
effects of biofeedback-assisted relaxation on a small sample of people
with Type I, insulin-dependent diabetes, and found the intervention
extremely promising. Significantly more members of the imagery group
reduced their blood glucose by 10% after one month, and some decreased
insulin intake. Anxiety and especially depression appeared to interfere
with a positive outcome. (As reported in Alternative Health practitioner: The Journal of Complementary and Natural Care, Vol 3, no 3, Fall/Winter 1997.)
Citation:
As reported in Alternative Health practitioner: The Journal of
Complementary and Natural Care, Vol 3, no 3, Fall/Winter 1997.
