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Diabetes and
Alcohol
are Deadly People with diabetes and alcohol consumption can result either in higher-than-normal blood sugar levels (i.e., hyperglycemia) or in lower-than-normal blood sugar levels (i.e., hypoglycemia), depending on the patient's nutritional status. Thus, long-term or chronic alcohol consumption in well-nourished diabetics can lead to hyperglycemia. On the other hand, people with diabetes and alcohol l consumption in diabetics who have not eaten for a while and whose glucose resources are exhausted (i.e., who are in a fasting state) can induce hypoglycemia. Both hyperglycemia and hypoglycemia can have serious health consequences. Diabetes medications that substitute for or stimulate the body's own insulin production (e.g., insulin or sulfonylureas) also may lead to hypoglycemia. Diabetes and Alcohol :Alcohol side effects on blood sugar levels of diabetics  People with either type 1 or type 2 diabetes, single episodes of alcohol consumpion generally do not lead to clinically significant changes in blood sugar levels. In fact, some studies have indicated that isolated episodes of drinking with a meal may have a beneficial effect by slightly lowering blood glucose levels that tend to rise too high in diabetics Heavy consumption of alcohol (i.e., 200 grams of pure alcohol, or approximately 16 standard drinks, per day) can cause ketoacidosis in both diabetics and non diabetics . Diabetes and alcohol consumption in high amounts and not eating for days and/or have vomited or developed other illnesses will result into a very low blood sugar levels (although some people with alcoholic ketoacidosis have very high blood sugar levels, because the lack of insulin prevents glucose uptake from the blood into the tissues). Diabetes and Alcohol :Alterations of Lipid Metabolism Abnormalities in the levels and metabolism of lipids are very common among type 1 or type 2 diabetics and may contribute to those patients' risk of developing cardiovascular disease . The consumption of alcohol can exacerbate the diabetes-related lipid abnormalities, because numerous studies have shown that heavy drinking can alter lipid levels even in non diabetics. Alcohol can induce several types of lipid alterations, including elevated triglyceride levels in the blood, reduced levels of Low density cholesterol, and elevated levels of high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol. Diabetes and Alcohol : Effects on Peripheral Neuropathy Diabetes and alcohol consumption are the two main causes of peripheral neuropathy. Among diabetics, the prevalence of neuropathy with obvious symptoms (i.e., symptomatic neuropathy) increases with increasing disease duration. Peripheral neuropathy is a condition in which nerves that extend from the spinal cord to control muscle function or that transmit various sensations such as touch, pain, temperature, and vibration-back to the spinal cord and brain are damaged. Moreover, it has been reported that for any given duration of diabetes, the prevalence of symptomatic peripheral neuropathy was greater in men who consumed at least three to four alcohol-containing beverages almost every night compared with men who drank less. That increase in prevalence was most apparent in patients with a disease duration of less than 4 years. Other researchers observed that the prevalence of neuropathy in type 1 diabetics increased in a linear fashion with the alcohol amount consumed. Those diabetics who consumed more than eight standard drinks per week developed peripheral neuropathy faster than did diabetics who consumed eight or fewer drinks per week. Diabetes and alcohol use is also associated with an inability to sense vibrations from a tuning fork, which serves as a convenient semi quantitative measure of peripheral neuropathy. All of these findings suggest that alcohol and diabetes can enhance each other's effects in terms of causing nerve damage. Because neuropathy is a major clinical problem in diabetics, more analyses are needed of the precise quantitative relationship between alcohol intake and neuropathy in diabetics as well as on factors that may reverse or protect against the neuropathy Diabetes and alcohol consumption : It's effects on Retinopathy Retinopathy is another troublesome tissue complication of diabetes and one of the leading causes of blindness in the United States today. Good blood sugar and blood pressure control as well as regular eye examinations are very important for the prevention of retinopathy. Excessive alcohol consumption may increase a person's risk for developing this disease. Medication Interactions in Diabetes and alcohol consumption In addition to exacerbating various medical complications of diabetes and alcohol consumption and its associated health consequences may interact with or alter the effects of several medications used to treat diabetes, including the following: Chlorpropamide is a medication used for treating type 2 diabetes by increasing pancreatic insulin secretion. A few diabetics treated with chlorpropamide experience an unpleasant, disulfiram-like reactionS after drinking alcohol. Metformin is a medication that decreases insulin resistance. Metformin can cause potentially very dangerous side effects in individuals whose liver is not functioning properly. Accordingly, patients consuming alcohol and are therefore at risk for liver damage must not take metformin. Troglitazone is another medication that help decrease insulin resistance, also must not be used by patients with liver disease and therefore should not be used by alcohol abusers. Additionally, troglitazone itself may impair liver function, and alcohol might further exacerbate this harmful effect. Occasional episodes of diabetes and alcohol consumption generally do not worsen blood glucose control in people with diabetes and may even have beneficial effects. Regular consumption of even moderate amounts of alcohol, however, clearly interferes with diabetic blood sugar control and increases the risk of impotence; peripheral neuropathy; and, possibly, retinopathy. At the same time, similar levels of alcohol consumption in diabetics are associated with a decreased risk of heart attacks and death from cardiovascular disease. The latter findings, however, were obtained with populations that included diabetics as well as non diabetics, thereby limiting researchers' ability to apply those findings to diabetics. Accordingly,additional studies are required to determine whether the beneficial effects of daily moderate alcohol consumption outweigh the deleterious effects. Diabetics should certainly avoid heavy drinking, because it can cause ketoacidosis and hyperglycemia. Apart from that, heavy drinking in a fasting state can cause hypoglycemia and ultimately increase diabetics' risk of death from non cardiovascular causes. . |
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