Self-control impaired in type-2 diabetics

TOKYO, Feb. 11 (UPI) -- Type-2 diabetes, an increasingly common complication of obesity, is associated with poor impulse control, researchers in Japan suggest.

The study, published in the journal BioPsychoSocial Medicine, suggests neurological changes result in this inability to resist temptation, which may in turn exacerbate diabetes.

Hiroaki Kumano of Waseda University in Japan worked with a team of researchers to assess response inhibition -- a measure of self-control -- in 27 patients with type-2 diabetes and 27 healthy controls.

"Patients with type-2 diabetes are required to make strict daily decisions; for example, they should resist the temptation of high-fat, high-calorie food, which is frequently cued by specific people, places and events," Kumano says in a statement.

To test impulsive behavior, the researchers used a test in which participants had to quickly press a button in response to the correct signal on a computer screen, while pressing the button in response to the wrong symbol counted against their score.

The study found that patients with diabetes performed significantly worse at the test, suggesting that they struggled to control the impulse to press the button.