HORMONAL AND BLOOD-GLUCOSE RESPONSIVENESS AS AN INDICATOR OF SPECIFICEMOTIONAL AROUSAL IN TYPE-1 DIABETICS

The aim of the present study was to examine, whether individual emotio nal arousal induced by a specific stress interview may effect growth h ormone (GH), cortisol, catecholamine and blood glucose levels in diabe tes patients. To test the validity of this hypothesis we subjected 18 Type 1 diabetics and 18 healthy controls to a life event interview whi ch produces individual arousal. During this stress interview catechola mines and plasma cortisol levels showed no significant increase, where as there was a significant increase of GH over time in both groups (p < 0.04), with a trend in diabetics to have a more marked GH response t han controls (p < 0.10). Blood glucose levels remained unaffected by t he interview. Depressed diabetics showed significantly higher cortisol increases (p < 0.004) than non-depressed diabetics, whereas there was no difference among depressed and non-depressed controls. Depression was not associated with an increase of other hormones or blood glucose levels in both groups. The results of our study confirm specific path ways in which individual emotional arousal and depression may lead to chronic metabolic disturbances as a result of GH and cortisol hypersec retion.