Alan M. Jacobson, MD, Chief Research Officer, Winthrop-University Hospital, discusses the impact of stress, depression and cognitive dysfunction in patients with diabetes. Jacobson defines stress as a general reaction people have to events, while depression is more specific, including a range of reactions to diabetes such as hormonal changes caused by emotions. Changes in blood pressure and blood glucose can influence a person’s emotional and cognitive state acutely, in addition to recent studies showing that these changes can have a more lasting effect.