Self-blame can lead to poor diabetes management
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American diabetics who need to save money on the cost of care can shop at a Canadian internet pharmacy, where they can buy Canadian Actos or over the counter medications such as insulin at significant discounts. While factors such as diet and exercise can also influence management of this disease, new research suggests that self-blaming attitudes can also affect treatment.
Scientists from Ithaca College and Adelphi University wanted to explore some of the psychological aspects of controlling diabetes. They went to a medical and fitness center and recruited 46 subjects who had either type 1 or type 2 diabetes. Study participants answered surveys that assessed different attitudes about their condition, including personal responsibility, chronic anxiety, self-blame, positive/negative social support and disease management.
The researchers stressed that they were interested in subjective perceptions, and that the accuracy of patients' self-judgments did not matter.
Results showed that diabetics who blame themselves for lifestyle choices that may have contributed to their disease may feel less motivated to manage their illness, including glucose monitoring, medication intake and lifestyle changes, as published in the American Journal of Health Behavior.
"Our study shows that interventions designed to improve anger management and increase disease acceptance may offer additional mechanisms to improve diet, exercise and perform appropriate blood glucose testing in individuals with diabetes," said researcher Mary DePalma.
Further research is needed to study patients from different cultural backgrounds, the scientists said.
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