Recent researches in Japan have suggested that Type-2 diabetes, an increasingly common complication of obesity, is associated with poor impulse control.

A study was published in the journal BioPsychoSocial Medicine which suggested that 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.

Kumano said, "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."

The researchers, in order to test impulsive behavior, 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 performance of the patients with diabetes was significantly worse at the test, suggesting that they struggled to control the impulse to press the button.