While it’s known that heart disease is one of the leading causes of death in people with type 2 diabetes, the combined impact of both chronic stress and poor diet on the heart health of people living with diabetes is not well understood.
In response to this, new diabetes research in Queensland, funded through new grants announced by Diabetes Australia, is set to look at the combined impact of stress and diet on the heart health of people with diabetes, and could pave the way to new treatments reducing the risk of heart attacks in some people.
“Up to 75 per cent of people with diabetes report experiencing serious stress in their day-to-day lives and it is important we understand how this impacts their physical health,” says CEO of Diabetes Australia, Professor Greg Johnson.
“Understanding the combined effect of stress and unhealthy diets could pave the way for more effective interventions that help reduce stress and improve outcomes in people with diabetes.”
In addition to this study, other new diabetes research studies in Queensland have also been funded through new grants announced by Diabetes Australia.
Diabetes Queensland CEO Sturt Eastwood adds that other research projects will look at the impact of sedentary time and sitting in the workplace and the impact of gestational diabetes.
“Associate Professor Genevieve Healy from the University of Queensland has received funding to develop an intervention that helps people reduce the amount of time they are sitting in the workplace,” Mr Eastwood says.
“Dr Carlos Salomon from the University of Queensland will study the links between gestational diabetes and the foetal development of large babies in the hope of identifying potential new treatments.
“We’re are also supporting research by Dr Katie Brooker from the University of Queensland to find ways to help people with diabetes who also have intellectual or developmental disabilities to live well with their diabetes.
“The tremendous advances in diabetes research in the last century have dramatically improved the quality of life for people with diabetes and today’s announcement is another step forward in the diabetes research journey.
“We will continue to fundraise and invest in diabetes research until we’ve found a cure.”
