Practical Diabetology Patients Ask
(March 1997)

Q. Can a sudden shock to the system cause diabetes? I developed Type I (insulin-dependent) diabetes in 1969 after a brick smashed through my windshield on the Brooklyns-Queens Expressway. My friend developed it after being rescued after he was washed over-board during a typhoon while on a destroyer off the coast of Korea. Neither of us have a history of diabetes in our families.

A. To say that you and your friend have had sudden shocks in your lives would be a gross understatement! The answer to your question is a qualified yes.

Any stress, particularly the severe stresses you have described, will release powerful hormones; this is known as the stress-response effect. These hormones are designed to raise blood sugar levels to prepare your body for the "fight or flight" response, when both the brain and muscles need extra glucose.

To be precise, stress did not "cause" your diabetes, but rather unmasked the underlying problem which, sooner or later would have appeared anyway. A very large number of the insulin-producing beta cells of the pancreas are destroyed during the asymptomatic period before a person beings to show signs of diabetes. The events you describe simply put sufficient strain on the system to make the symptoms appear.

Eric A. Orzeck, M.D.
Clinical Associate Professor
Baylor College of Medicine
Houston, Texas

This article appeared in the March 1997 Issue of Practical Diabetology, p. 37.