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Diabetes Current Topics in Diabetes

Panic Attacks Can Worsen Diabetes

(HealthCentersOnline) - Diabetes patients who experience episodes of panic are at increased risk of diabetic complications, recent research suggests.

Many but not all studies have found depression and anxiety to be more common in diabetic individuals than in nondiabetics. Researchers in Seattle examined the prevalence of panic attacks in people with diabetes. Panic attacks are sudden, brief episodes of fear and anxiety that cause symptoms such as a racing heartbeat, sweating and shortness of breath.

"Panic attacks can mimic episodes of hypoglycemia, also known as low blood sugar, so we need a better understanding of how the two conditions are related," lead investigator Dr. Evette Ludman of Group Health Cooperative, a nonprofit healthcare system in Seattle, said in a press release. "We don't want people adjusting their blood sugar thinking they are having hypoglycemia when their symptoms are actually caused by a panic disorder."

The researchers mailed a survey to 4,385 diabetic patients that asked about matters including panic attacks, depression, diabetes symptoms, quality of life and disability. They used automated medical records to find out the patients' diabetes treatment, glucose control, diabetic complications and other medical conditions.

Of the people surveyed, 193, or 4.4 percent, reported recent episodes of panic, and more than half of those patients also suffered from depression. After adjusting for the depression, the researchers found that panic episodes were associated with worse glucose control, increased diabetic symptoms and complications and reduced functioning.

The researchers concluded that panic was strongly associated with diabetic complications and functional impairments. They suggested that interventions addressing diabetic patients' psychological conditions include a focus on anxiety and mood disorders.

The study was reported in the November-December issue of General Hospital Psychiatry.

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