According to the first global report of the World Health Organization, the number of adults with diabetes has increased to 422 million while causing 1.6 million deaths per year. This rise is largely due to type 2 diabetes mellitus. This study involved a literature search (PUBMED) which identified randomized controlled trials and systematic/literature reviews for interventions with an antidiabetic effect and risk factors that caused diabetes mellitus. Then studies were searched on the effect on cortisol for the interventions and risk factors. 71 natural interventions and 12 pharmaceuticals were found to decrease cortisol and exert an antidiabetic effect. On the other hand, 2 pharmaceuticals, 6 categories of pharmaceuticals and 20 risk factors increased cortisol and caused diabetes mellitus type 2. These results suggest that the hypothesis of diabetes mellitus type 2 being caused by chronic cortisol overproduction is plausible.

Disclosure

A. Isaza: None.

© 2019 by the American Diabetes Association.
2019
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