Friday, April 09, 2004
Type II Diabetes, Hypoglycemia and Alcoholism in Native Americans
The Relationship Between Type II Diabetes and Alcoholism
Ann Dapice, Ph.D., Clark Inkanish, ICADC, Barbara Martin, B.S., and Elizama Montalvo, M.D.
Onyx Mooney, a Choctaw, was heard to say recently, "Practically everyone in my family is either diabetic or alcoholic. I'm 38 years old and I'm not alcoholic so I wonder when the diabetes will hit." He didn't realize at the time how true his statement was, nor the physiological relationship between the two diseases. His observations are accurately demonstrated in the statistics. American Indians have had the highest incidence of Type II Diabetes of any racial group resulting in related cardiovascular disease, kidney disease and high amputation rates. American Indians also have the highest incidence of alcoholism, nicotine addiction and suicide of any racial group. Physiologically, these are all interrelated.
Conquest by Europeans resulted in genocide, great poverty and oppression for all Indians across the Americas, but until recently, diabetes and alcoholism were mainly seen as problems among Indians north of the US-Mexican border. This was true even for tribes divided by the border. Why? How is the present incidence of alcoholism and diabetes among Indians the continuing result of earlier European and US policy towards Indians from the beginning?
There has been found a physiological relationship between alcoholism and Type II Diabetes. Both are related to problems in blood sugar regulation. An elevated insulin response to carbohydrates exists in both the pre-diabetic and the alcoholic. Most people are unaware that between 75% and 95% of alcoholics are hypoglycemic. (It should be noted that not all people who are hypoglycemic are or will become alcoholic or diabetic.) Dr. Joan Larson author of Seven Weeks to Sobriety has written that Native Americans are particularly vulnerable to adult-onset diabetes when associated with drinking. Although long considered a moral weakness and still treated as an emotional problem, alcoholism, like diabetes, is a physical disease. There are mental, emotional and spiritual components to all illnesses, but at base, alcoholism is a physical disease.
Alcoholism in Native Americans is partly related to an allergic response. American Indians are allergic to a number of the foods brought by Europeans and especially to grains (e.g., wheat, barley, oats, etc.) Food allergy symptoms include fatigue, mental confusion, depression, physical aggression and suicide attempts. After repeated exposure, intense cravings for the allergen and physical addiction resulting in withdrawal symptoms are the maladaptive responses. This allergy was demonstrated by the initial reaction of Indians to grain alcohols described in historical accounts. Alcoholism is lowest in countries where these grains originated thousands of years ago (e.g., Africa, Italy, Greece, etc.) and highest in countries that received these grains more recently (e.g., Russia and northern European countries.) Indians in the US are a prime example of people most recently exposed to these grains and therefore most acutely affected by allergic symptoms.
posted by Anonymous
PermaLink @ 8:28 AM
Ann Dapice, Ph.D., Clark Inkanish, ICADC, Barbara Martin, B.S., and Elizama Montalvo, M.D.
Onyx Mooney, a Choctaw, was heard to say recently, "Practically everyone in my family is either diabetic or alcoholic. I'm 38 years old and I'm not alcoholic so I wonder when the diabetes will hit." He didn't realize at the time how true his statement was, nor the physiological relationship between the two diseases. His observations are accurately demonstrated in the statistics. American Indians have had the highest incidence of Type II Diabetes of any racial group resulting in related cardiovascular disease, kidney disease and high amputation rates. American Indians also have the highest incidence of alcoholism, nicotine addiction and suicide of any racial group. Physiologically, these are all interrelated.
Conquest by Europeans resulted in genocide, great poverty and oppression for all Indians across the Americas, but until recently, diabetes and alcoholism were mainly seen as problems among Indians north of the US-Mexican border. This was true even for tribes divided by the border. Why? How is the present incidence of alcoholism and diabetes among Indians the continuing result of earlier European and US policy towards Indians from the beginning?
There has been found a physiological relationship between alcoholism and Type II Diabetes. Both are related to problems in blood sugar regulation. An elevated insulin response to carbohydrates exists in both the pre-diabetic and the alcoholic. Most people are unaware that between 75% and 95% of alcoholics are hypoglycemic. (It should be noted that not all people who are hypoglycemic are or will become alcoholic or diabetic.) Dr. Joan Larson author of Seven Weeks to Sobriety has written that Native Americans are particularly vulnerable to adult-onset diabetes when associated with drinking. Although long considered a moral weakness and still treated as an emotional problem, alcoholism, like diabetes, is a physical disease. There are mental, emotional and spiritual components to all illnesses, but at base, alcoholism is a physical disease.
Alcoholism in Native Americans is partly related to an allergic response. American Indians are allergic to a number of the foods brought by Europeans and especially to grains (e.g., wheat, barley, oats, etc.) Food allergy symptoms include fatigue, mental confusion, depression, physical aggression and suicide attempts. After repeated exposure, intense cravings for the allergen and physical addiction resulting in withdrawal symptoms are the maladaptive responses. This allergy was demonstrated by the initial reaction of Indians to grain alcohols described in historical accounts. Alcoholism is lowest in countries where these grains originated thousands of years ago (e.g., Africa, Italy, Greece, etc.) and highest in countries that received these grains more recently (e.g., Russia and northern European countries.) Indians in the US are a prime example of people most recently exposed to these grains and therefore most acutely affected by allergic symptoms.
posted by Anonymous
PermaLink @ 8:28 AM
