Anxious folks may spot diabetes symptoms early

Being anxious may be good for your health, at least if you have risk factors for type 2 diabetes, new research shows.

Among 204 patients newly diagnosed with the disease, those with more anxious temperaments were diagnosed at an earlier stage compared with their more relaxed peers. The relationship was particularly strong among younger people, who do not normally undergo routine screening for diabetes.

The patients who were diagnosed early were also more likely to have better control of the diabetes, regardless of their age.

"Any factors that influence people's perceptions of vague symptoms or reporting of symptoms stands the chance to influence how early they get diagnosed," Dr. Peter A. Hall of the University of Waterloo in Ontario, Canada, principal investigator, told Reuters Health.

Early diagnosis is key in type 2 diabetes, because it means people can get their blood glucose under control and cut their risk of developing complications like heart disease, blindness, and even limb amputations, Hall noted.

Type 2 diabetes often goes undiagnosed for years because of the vagueness of early symptoms, which can include unusual thirstiness, frequent urination, and itchy skin, Hall noted in an interview. People younger than 65 are typically not screened for the condition, he and his colleagues note in their report in Psychosomatic Medicine, so a person's awareness of their own symptoms may be particularly important for catching the disease early. "It's possible that anxious people somehow pick up on or report these symptoms a little more readily," Hall suggested.

The researchers investigated how temperament may influence disease progression from the time diabetes type 2 was diagnosis. Men and women with higher anxiety scores on a standardized test of personality traits had low A1C scores upon diagnosis, indicating that their disease had not progressed as much at the time of diagnosis. The relationship was seen for people of all age groups, and was particularly strong in younger people.

But among less anxious people, the younger they were, the higher their A1C score at diagnosis.

Based on these findings, Hall recommends that primary care clinicians be aware that less anxious patients may be less likely than more anxious individuals to come forward to report early signs of diabetes.

SOURCE: Psychosomatic Medicine, September 2008.