Why does alcohol intoxication cause hypoglycemia

Conclusions: Alcohol induced ketoacidosis is usually associated with normal blood glucose. The probable etiology of low blood sugar in our patient was alcohol-induced inhibition of gluconeogenesis along with starvation. The prolonged hypoglycemia caused cortical damage simulating ischemic brain damage.

Ten months in to follow-up patient is still in persistent vegetative state with no noticeable neurological recovery. When a person drinks alcohol, the body reacts to it as a toxin, and channels all energy into expelling it. This means that other processes are interrupted — including the production of glucose and the hormones needed to regulate it.

This is most noticeable is in heavy drinkers, as over time drinking too much alcohol decreases the effectiveness of insulin, which leads to high blood sugar levels.

Alcohol consumption causes an increase in insulin secretion, which leads to low blood sugar otherwise known as hypoglycaemia. This causes light headedness and fatigue, and is also responsible for a host of longer-term alcohol-related health problems. Are you drinking too much? The effects of alcohol on blood sugar, in particular hypoglycemia, can make excessive drinking very dangerous for anyone with diabetes.

Alcohol can also make hypoglycemic medications less effective, meaning those with diabetes need to take extra care when drinking.

Some tips you could try are:. Arming yourself with strategies and tips can help you or a loved one take small steps towards big results. The main reservoirs are the bones and teeth, where the calcium content determines the strength and the stiffness of the bones.

The rest of the body's calcium is dissolved in the body fluids. Calcium is important for many body functions, including communication between and within cells. The overall calcium levels depend on how much calcium is in the diet, how much is absorbed into the body, and how much is excreted. Calcium absorption, excretion, and distribution between bones and body fluids are regulated by several hormones, namely parathyroid hormone PTH ; vitamin D-derived hormones; and calcitonin, which is made by specific cells in the thyroid.

Alcohol can interfere with calcium and bone metabolism in several ways. Acute alcohol consumption can lead to a transient PTH deficiency and increased urinary calcium excretion, resulting in loss of calcium from the body Chronic heavy drinking can disturb vitamin D metabolism, resulting in inadequate absorption of dietary calcium Studies in alcoholics also have shown that alcohol is directly toxic to bone-forming cells and inhibits their activity In addition, chronic heavy drinking can adversely affect bone metabolism indirectly, for example by contributing to nutritional deficiencies of calcium or vitamin D 7.

Liver disease and altered levels of reproductive hormones, both of which can be caused by alcohol, also affect bone metabolism 7. Calcium deficiency can lead to bone diseases, such as osteoporosis. Osteoporosis is characterized by a substantial loss of bone mass and, consequently, increased risk of fractures.

It affects 4 million to 6 million mainly older Americans, especially women after menopause. In alcoholics, the risk of osteoporosis is increased Because many falls are related to alcohol use 36 , adverse alcohol effects on bone metabolism pose a serious health problem.

Studies with abstinent alcoholics have found that alcohol-induced changes in bone metabolism, including toxic effects on bone-forming cells, are at least partially reversible after cessation of drinking 32,33,37, The effects of alcohol on different hormonal pathways may in turn influence alcohol- seeking behavior.

For example, in animals, alcohol-seeking behavior appears to be regulated in part through a system called the renin-angiotensin system, which controls blood pressure and salt concentrations in the blood.

In rats, activation of this system through alcohol consumption caused the animals to reduce their alcohol intake The mechanism and relevance of this effect are currently under investigation. Alcohol's wide-ranging effects on the hormone system present many practical clinical concerns. For example, managing diabetes, particularly with the current emphasis on stringent control of blood sugar, is complicated by alcohol's interference with blood sugar levels. In the emergency room, stupor in patients with alcohol on their breath often is not caused by alcohol intoxication, but by the hypoglycemia low blood sugar that is a complication of heavy drinking.

Failure to treat the hypoglycemia could have life-threatening consequences. Heavy drinking has a major effect on the reproductive system, affecting libido, fertility, and pregnancy. Heavy drinking also places postmenopausal women at risk for fractures from falls due to their increased risk for osteoporosis from alcohol's effect on blood estrogen levels coupled with their increased risk of falling due to drinking.

However, it is possible that moderate alcohol use may help protect postmenopausal women against osteoporosis by raising blood estrogen levels. Scientists are working to discover for which population this may be true and at what drinking levels. Finally, research on how alcohol's interactions with hormones may contribute to the pathological drive to consume alcohol is just beginning and may provide valuable insight into the mechanisms by which alcohol-seeking behavior can be controlled.

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NIH Pub. An overview of the effects of alcohol on neuroendocrine function in women. No Bone and the "comforts of life. Alcohol abuse and fuel homeostasis. In: Palmer, T. Alcoholism: A Molecular Perspective. Series A, Life Sciences Vol. New York: Plenum Press, Lunchtime gin and tonic a cause of reactive hypoglycemia.

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