Anti-stress program helps diabetics
First results of the Heidelberg diabetes and stress-study (Heidi) prove positive effect on dealing with disease and Psyche / influence on renal function is not to assess
Diabetics who better relax by an "anti-stress training" and learn the mental approach to their disease, have long-term may be less damage to health and psychological problems. This is the result Heidelberger Diabetes and Stress study comes (Heidi), the first controlled clinical trial that examined the effect of stress reduction in diabetics. Your results after one year therapy have now been published: The participants in the eight-week anti-stress group therapy with weekly exercise program were less depressed and physically fitter after one year, for example, had lower blood pressure. However, it was their protein excretion, which increases with decreasing kidney function, unchanged - in the untreated control group, these had continued to deteriorate.
"A reliable statement about the effect of the therapy on the physical condition is only possible after the study has been completed in four years," explains Professor Dr. Wolfgang Herzog, Medical Director of the Clinic for General Internal Medicine and Psychosomatic Medicine at the Psychosocial Center at Heidelberg University Hospital.
"But we are already certain that the psychological situation of diabetic patients can be improved with a weekly anti-stress program."
Support from the Manfred Lautenschläger Foundation
The results of the HeiDis study, in which a total of 110 diabetics, men and women, took part, were published in the journal "Diabetes Care". The study is funded by the Manfred Lautenschläger Foundation.
Together with the Department of Endocrinology at the Medical University Clinic Heidelberg, headed by Professor Dr. Peter Nawroth, patients who had been suffering from diabetes for years and were at high risk of complications were recruited for the HeiDis study. These patients often have depression and anxiety because they experience their illness as limiting and threatening. Additional health problems from vascular damage, such as damage to the heart and eyes, are also common.
Professor Nawroth and his research team found evidence that an anti-stress program can prevent damage in animal experiments and in a pilot study almost ten years ago: Test subjects under stress not only showed high stress hormone levels, but also activated the key molecule, the the so-called transcription factor NF-kappaB, which triggers inflammation and degradation processes. Conversely, the hypothesis that HeiDis is now testing is: Can less stress prevent damage to health?
Increasing mindfulness through breathing and meditation exercises
By increasing mindfulness, the anti-stress program aimed to encourage patients to better accept and share their illness, including the unpleasant manifestations. In eight weekly evening meetings, each of which was led jointly by a psychologist and a doctor, the patients learned to experience their illness in a new way. Breathing and meditation exercises helped, as did exercises in dealing with critical situations, such as hypoglycaemia, and medical information. As a consequence, the patients suffered less frequently from depression, as the evaluation of questionnaires revealed; her physical condition improved due to a reduction in blood pressure and other cardiovascular risk factors.
The participants rated their therapy predominantly as positive; their attitude towards the disease has changed, they now want to live more consciously and attentively. Every second participant was interested in continuing the therapy.
Publications on the concept and the study:
Faude-Lang V, Hartmann M, Schmidt EM, Humpert PM, Nawroth P, Herzog W. Acceptance and mindfulness-based group concept for patients with advanced type 2 diabetes: concept and practical experiences. PsychotherPsych Med. 2010;60:185-189.
Hartmann M, Kopf S, Kircher C, Faude-Lang V, Djuric Z, Augstein F, Friederich HC, Kieser M, Bierhaus A, Humpert PM, Herzog W, Nawroth PP. Sustained effects of a mindfulness-based stress-reduction intervention in type 2 diabetes patients: design and first results of a randomized controlled trial (the HEIDIS study). Diabetes Care published ahead of print February 14, 2012, doi:10.2337/dc11-1343
Source: Heidelberg [ University Hospital ]
