The main goal for diabetics is to always control glucose levels. When glucose levels swing from highs to lows throughout the day, it causes serious damage to blood vessels. Then, a trickle-down effect leads to heart disease, cognitive decline, blindness, amputation, and depression.
Yup, that’s right: even depression.
Greater Variability in Glucose Control Linked to Depression
A group of researchers in Israel evaluated data of 837 adults diagnosed with type 2 diabetes. Impressively, they looked at glucose variability since the year 1998 and compared the data to subsequent depressive symptoms.
After measuring for depression and evaluating glycemic variability among the participants, they found a strong connection between the two.
The more variable the glucose levels, the more depressive symptoms the diabetes patient had.
It wasn’t just a shy coincidence, either. Depressive symptoms increased by a whopping 
31% for every 1% increase in glycemic control variability. Meaning, even the slightest disruption in glucose levels could lead to depressive symptoms with almost certainty.
It is important to note that the study is not talking about short-term variability (because we’ve all been there).
A day where you accidentally forget your snack or when you indulge a bit too much at happy hour will not necessarily send you into a spiral of depressive symptoms.
Instead, the study points out that the glycemic variability occurred over the course of decades before they measured for depressive symptoms.
So, what makes this study so important?
It has long been established that diabetes is linked to depression. Mental health is greatly affected by a diabetes diagnosis for a variety of reasons and professional haven’t been able to pinpoint exactly where the root lies.
Though mental health is a tricky beast to try to understand, this study certainly sheds some light on the connection between diabetes and depression. It may not guarantee total prevention, but it does offer one more approach for it.
So, the moral of the story?
Regulate your glucose levels for a better life.
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