Study Examines Mood and Insulin Resistance in Teen Girls At-Risk For Type 2 Diabetes

Episode # 75
Uploaded: October 26, 2011
Running Time: 02:57

CROWN: From the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, Maryland, this is CLINICAL CENTER RADIO.

Type 2 diabetes is a chronic disease that puts people at higher risk for other serious health problems like heart disease, kidney failure, vision problems, and stroke. A major way that type 2 diabetes occurs is through insulin resistance. Insulin resistance means that insulin, an important hormone in the body to keep blood sugar normal, isn't working as well as it should.  Insulin resistance has been linked to mood problems, stress, and depression, especially in women.  So researchers are studying ways to reduce stress and hopefully the risk of type 2 diabetes – starting with teenage girls at risk for developing the disease. Psychologist Dr. Lauren Shomaker with Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development explains:

SHOMAKER: Children who feel sad or depressed are likely to have higher insulin resistance than those who don’t feel sad or depressed. And what we want to find out is if decreasing those symptoms of sadness or depression can actually improve people’s insulin resistance and, in turn, lesson their risk of developing type 2 diabetes. 

CROWN: The 14-month NIH study, taking place at the Clinical Center, will include teenage girls between 12 and 17 years old who have a family history of diabetes.

SHOMAKER: We have girls participate in a very brief six week program. And the group programs that the girls participate in are designed to either teach them coping skills for dealing with depressive symptoms and improving their mood or to focus on health education which basically entails learning healthy living skills. And then after the group program is over, we ask the girls to come back for three follow-up visits over the course of a year. Really the ultimate goal is to try to find out if improving girls’ mood improves their insulin resistance and their risk of developing type 2 diabetes, or if providing girls with health knowledge is just as helpful.

CROWN: If you would like more information about this study, or one of the 1,500 other studies offered at the NIH Clinical Center, log on to http://clinicalcenter.nih.gov. For this study, refer to protocol number 11-CH-0239 at http://clinicaltrials.gov. You may also call toll free 1-866-999-5553. From America's Clinical Research Hospital, this has been CLINICAL CENTER RADIO. In Bethesda, Maryland, I'm Ellen Crown, at the National Institutes of Health, an agency of the United States Department of Health and Human Services.

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