PTSD can double diabetes risk in women

Women who have post-traumatic stress disorder are about twice as likely to develop type 2 diabetes as women without PTSD, according to new research published in JAMA Psychiatry.

The study included data from the Nurses Health Study II, which revealed that the more PTSD symptoms a woman had, the greater her risk for developing type 2 diabetes. The severity of PTSD symptoms was also associated with risk - women who had the most severe symptoms were most likely to develop the blood sugar condition.

"Not only is PTSD devastating to mental health, but it affects physical health too, raising risk for cardiovascular disease, diabetes, and obesity," said senior study author Karestan C. Koenen, PhD, professor in the Department of Epidemiology at the Mailman School of Public Health at Columbia University.

By the age of 60, about 12 percent of women with many PTSD symptoms had developed type 2 diabetes, the study found, while fewer than 7 percent of women with no symptoms of PTSD had developed diabetes.

Trauma that goes untreated

According to first author Andrea L. Roberts, PhD, fewer than half of Americans with PTSD receive treatment. About one in nine women will have PTSD at some point in her lifetime, and the condition may raise the risk for obesity, too.

The causes of PTSD in the study participants were varied, but included traumas like sexual assault, domestic violence, unexpected death of a loved one or a car accident.

The authors said further research is needed to identify what biological or lifestyle changes might account for the link between PTSD and type 2 diabetes risk.

In the meantime, they said, awareness is key.

"Women with PTSD and the health professionals who care for them should be aware that these women are at greater risk for diabetes," Roberts said.

Source: Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health