One of my favorite quotes states that “worry is the biggest misuse of the imagination.” How true. And according to some new research, that misuse of the imagination can result in an increased risk for diabetes.

If you’re not a worrywart yourself, I’m sure you know a few. Whether the worries are more mundane – like a test grade or an upcoming date – or more irrational – like a return of the bubonic plague or the world being overrun by water from the polar ice caps melting – there are people obsessed by things that are largely out of their control.

Unfortunately, worrywarts are putting a terrible toll on their mental health, but they’re also impacting their physical health, specifically men.

According to researchers and their study published in the journal Diabetic Medicine, men who have a tendency to worry are more than two times more likely to be diagnosed with type II diabetes than men who take things in stride.

Researchers came to this finding after analyzing approximately 2100 men, all of whom had normal blood glucose levels (in other words, none of the men had diabetes). Among other things, they asked the men a series of questions that assessed how psychologically distressed they were, such as whether or not they were depressed, if they had trouble sleeping, and determining what kind of anxiety they experienced on a day to day basis.

Approximately eight years later, the researchers followed up with the 2100 men to see where their health stood. Amazingly, when the researchers looked at the numbers to see who among the men worried the most (or in science-speak, who among the men was most “psychologically distressed”) the rate of diabetes was almost two and a half times higher among the worriers than those that weren’t so occupied with worry.

Now, studies are often followed up by, well, follow-up studies to better determine the previous study’s finding, making sure there weren’t other contributing factors. While this study will likely also have follow-ups, the study controlled for classic contributing factors to diabetes risk such as smoking, obesity, age and genetics.

This is no doubt an eye opening finding by itself. But what’s particularly eye opening is that this finding does not apply to women, according to the researchers. One would think that because women tend to worry more frequently than men that women would also be at an increased risk for diabetes. But the researchers believe the discrepancy lies in the different way men and women handle worry (men, who have a tendency to internalize it; women, who tend to share their frustrations with others). As a result, so say the researchers, the difference in how men and women handle worry may impact how the brain regulates hormones, which impacts how men go about dealing with worry in often unhealthy ways, such as with alcohol, cigarettes or unhealthy eating.

Of course, these are just theories. Nevertheless, their theories are grounds for future research in better determining why excessive worry and diabetes is linked with men only.

Having said all this, I’m well aware that this finding might cause further worry among the truly committed worrywarts. For that, I apologize. All I can say is, try and live by the immortal words sung by Bobby McFerrin and heard all over the radio airwaves in the 1980s: Don’t worry, be happy.