Thursday, March 14, 2013

Alcoholism and Type II Diabetes Part 1

My sister is an Alcoholic and a Type II Diabetic and so was her father. This has often lead me to wonder if the two are related in some way. I’ve done a lot of research in an attempt to confirm my suspicions and although I haven’t found exactly what I was looking for I did find out some interesting things.

Between 75% and 95% of Alcoholics are hypoglycemic. This is interesting, but I’m still wondering if any percentage of these people were hypoglycemic before they were Alcoholics. I can understand why a person who be hypoglycemic after becoming an Alcoholic. I really want to find out if having Diabetes can increase the risk for Alcoholism.

Alcoholism is a physical disease like Diabetes. Alcohol is treated as an emotional problem but the base of it is physical. As with any illness, there are mental, emotional and spiritual components. For instance, I have chronic pain and while the pain is physical, it has caused me to suffer from depression and anxiety. The same is true with Alcoholism. Many people, my husband included, don’t understand Alcoholism and don’t view it as a physical disease. They view it as a lack of will power and overall selfishness. 

Part 2 will cover the relationship between sugar addiction and alcohol addiction.  

No comments: