Is the Cart Before the Horse?

I read an interesting blog on www.thediabetesblog.com today written by Chris Sparling.  Citing a study done by Northwestern University, he takes exception to their conclusion that depression can cause diabetes.

My take on that is that it is probably the other way around. When someone is pre-diabetic or borderline diabetic, they usually don’t feel quite right. Not feeling quite right over a long period and not knowing why can certainly be a depressing thing. I think you would find a similar phenomenon in undiagnosed cancer and coronary artery disease victims.

Looking at it from another direction I can see where depression could actually have an impact on the onset of type 2 diabetes. The reality is that when depression sets in there are very often unhealthy life style changes that occur. A depressed person is likely to set aside healthy eating habits, quit exercising and gain weight, all risk factors that can contribute to diabetes.

From a life insurance perspective, an underwriter probably isn’t going to give a lot of thought to which came first. Their focus will be on the health issue, whether it is depression or diabetes or a combination of both, and how well controlled the health problems are, and how compliant a person is with their treatment, and whether they are correcting any out of line life style issues. A good independent agent can help you get all of the information together in order to find the best rates.

This post is somewhat dated. Life insurance underwriting is changing and evolving continually. For more updated information check out some of the key word links. If you have a specific question or topic you need information for do a search. If you don’t find the answers you need contact me and we’ll make sure you get the information that is important to you.