Alcoholism and Diabetes: The Conclusion

Two of my previous posts have included the research I have done in order to find the link between Alcoholism and Diabetes. Although I am yet to completely confirm if one actually can cause the other I am concluding my research with this post. I have found enough information to satisfy my wonder for now.

I have found that Native Americans are particularly vulnerable to adult-onset diabetes early on in their drinking careers. I have not been able to find a definite answer as to why, so if anyone can better inform me on this it would be appreciated.

 

Diabetes is often found in a grandparent within an alcoholic family. Again, I was unable to find out why.

Diabetes and Alcoholism are both related to problems in blood sugar regulation. I found this interesting. This proves that Alcoholism is a physical disease, which is sometimes hard for people to understand. This shows the relationship between the two, but it still wasn’t what I was looking for.

An elevated insulin response to carbohydrates exists in both pre-diabetics and alcoholics. This is really interesting, but it still just shows the relationship that the two diseases have, unless I’m missing something somewhere. Anyone have any ideas?

As I may have stated in my previous posts 75% to 95% of alcoholics are hypoglycemic, which means they have low blood sugar. This doesn’t mean that they are diabetics. This also doesn’t mean that all people who are hypoglycemic are or will become an alcoholic or diabetic. Dr. Douglas M. Baird stated that he has never seen an alcoholic who wasn’t hypoglycemic. He also stated that this isn’t something that just happens but that it is actually the same problem. 

Bill Wilson, the founder of Alcoholics Anonymous first established the link between alcoholism and hypoglycemia. He also established the need for biochemical treatment using Niacin and B Vitamins. This information, for whatever reason, was never incorporated into the present AA practice.

Scientific research demonstrates that the physiological effects of sugar, caffeine and tobacco are the major causes of alcoholic relapse. This doesn’t really have much to do with my initial research, but I found it very interesting and so I thought I would throw it in.