It could be a case of mind over medicine.
The NHS in Scotland is investigating whether a Buddhist technique similar to meditation can help diabetics manage their condition.
Patients suffering from type one diabetes will be asked to attend a "mindfulness" course once a week where they learn to live in the moment.
Then researchers, from Aberdeen and Greater Glasgow and Clyde, will examine if this new way of life lowers their blood glucose levels and reduces anxiety and depression.
Some patients with diabetes can find it difficult to carry out the complex tasks they have to repeat several times a day to regulate their blood glucose levels.
About one third of adults with diabetes experience significant levels of anxiety and depression which can make it harder for them to effectively manage their condition.
Chief investigator on the project Dr Andy Keen, a health psychologist specialising in diabetes at NHS Grampian, said: "For example, people who are anxious have high levels of stress hormones such as adrenalin and cortisol, and these cause glucose to be released into the bloodstream, driving up blood glucose levels. "Also, depression is characterised by fatigue and low motivation, which can make it tricky to devote the time and energy required to manage complex long-term conditions like diabetes."
Worrying and planning for future catastrophes which will probably never happen and ruminating on imagined failings in the past are features of anxiety and depression, added Dr Keen - who also works for Aberdeen University.
He continued: “It is best to think of mindfulness as a skill. It is a way of helping people be better able to focus on the ‘here and now’ of their lives, and disengage with unhelpful ways of thinking, such as worry and rumination.
“If you change the way people think, then you change the way they feel."
A specially designed mindfulness-based cognitive therapy course has been shown in informal testing by psychologists in NHS Grampian to reduce anxiety and depression symptoms in people with diabetes. The pilot study will explore the effect of this treatment among adults with Type 1 diabetes, whose blood glucose levels are markedly higher than recommended.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules here