The effect of regular alcohol use on the management of non-insulin diabetes mellitus.
This is a retrospective study, in which we investigated the impact of regular alcohol use on the clinical management of non-insulin dependent diabetes mellitus (NIDDM) patients from the outpatient clinic of the VA Medical Center in New Orleans, Louisiana. The study population included randomly selected NIDDM patients of which 40% used alcohol regularly. The fasting blood sugar (FBS) in non-users of alcohol stayed in the "normal" (< or = 140 mg/dl) and "acceptable " (< or = 175 mg/dl) range and that of regular users of alcohol remained at the "fair" (< or = 235 mg/dl) and "poor" (> 235 mg/dl) range. NIDDM patients who were regular users of alcohol had a higher frequency of dose adjustments than that of non-users of alcohol (96% vs 4%, respectively). The treatment failure was significantly higher among patients who regularly used alcohol than among those who abstained (90 vs 10%, respectively). On the basis of our findings, it was recommended that attending physician should routinely identify the regular alcohol users and monitor blood alcohol levels of ambulatory NIDDM patients during their follow-up visits. Also, complete cessation of alcohol consumption should be established prior to making dosage adjustment in situations where the oral hypoglycemic agent fails.
V.A. Medical Center, New Orleans, LA, USA.
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D000428:Alcohol Drinking / Q000009:adverse effects*; D001786:Blood Glucose / Q000187:drug effects; D003924:Diabetes Mellitus, Type 2 / Q000097:blood / Q000188:drug therapy; D019468:Disease Management; D004336:Drug Antagonism; D000431:Ethanol / Q000494:pharmacology; D006801:Humans; D007004:Hypoglycemic Agents / Q000008:administration & dosage; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D017211:Treatment Failure
D001786:Blood Glucose; D007004:Hypoglycemic Agents; D000431:Ethanol