Alcohol dependance and body chemistry

Functional reactive hypoglycaemia is a common problem, not accepted as such by most medical doctors. It frequently preceeds as well as coexists with alcoholism, accounting for some of the common mix of anxiety and drinking.

Acute alcohol poisoning can cause dangerous hypoglycaemia, but less severe glucose disturbance is a much more common problem. Frequent small meals of low GI² foods, are likely to be acceptable and may be enough to help.

In a recent study¹ of male twins, two interviews a year apart were used to improve diagnostic reliability, and the hereditary influence was estimated at 71%.

The authors commented "the study moves AD into a class of disorders that are highly dependent on genes, such as schizophrenia or bipolar disorder."

Hypoglycaemia is likewise.

People with this syndrome frequently give a family history of diabetes, and the disturbance of liver gluconeogenesis commonly contributing to this has a genetic cause.

For more on this and its treatment, see the anxiety chest pain page.

The aim of the game

It's not just politicians who are addicted to short term goals. We are probably all guilty of this at times.

Feeling better is a perfectly reasonable goal to focus one's attention on. I remember one chap who improved a bit when his wife acted on advice to get good, top shelf booze. This improved his self esteem enough for him to take a bit more care of himself.

The aim has to be towards something positive, not just controlling a damaging habit or addiction. It might be a trip to see grandchildren in a months time.

References and notes.

In this study, reliability was improved by asking for... previously seeking treatment at some point in their life; increased time spent obtaining, using, or recovering from alcohol use; and a long duration for their most severe episode, and large numbers of symptoms related to alcohol use.

2. Foods which are digested and absorbed more slowly, so not upsetting blood sugar levels as much. Examples are rolled oats instead of minute oats, stone ground wholemeal flour products rather than steel milled, leafy greens rather than potatoes etc.

There are lots of lists of food by glycaemic index, but one is really more interested in the "glycaemic load" of a meal overall, and particularly in the overall effect of the meal on blood insulin levels.

See Mendosa.com for a start on this.

From alcohol page back to home page