Psychological Factors Affecting Endocrine Disease

내분비질환에 영향을 미치는 심리적 요인

Although there has been a considerable research in psychoneuroendocrinology, particularly in relation to the biology of mood disorders, there has been a paucity of research regarding the effects of psychological factors on endocrine diseases. Of the existing literature, the most research is focused on diabetes mellitus, graves' disease. Especially diabetes appears to be the only endocrine disease that has been the focus of recent research studies. Most of the studies had retrospective designs or several methodological flaw. There has been no consistent results demonstrating that psychological factors affect the onset of diabetes mellitus. Several studies have suggested that psychological factors affect the course of diabetes. A small number of studies showed some evidence that psychological stress was associated with changes in glucose regulation in a subset of diabetic patients. There was also evidence to suggest that some temperament and coping skill influence glycemic control in child, adolescent diabetics. Studies of behavioral or psychosocial intervention on diabetic control have been small and have produced mixed results. There was a few controlled study suggested that stressful life events might be a causal role in Cushing's disease and Graves'disease, but there is no presently sufficient evidence to suggest that psychological factors affect the onset and the course of Cushing's disease and Graves' disease. In future, there is need for a well-designed biopsychosocial research with prospective designs, well defined patient population and control groups to study the relationship between psychological factors and endocrine diseases.