Estimates of the incidence of hypoglycemia are wide and varied,
depending upon who is being asked. Some physicians (and the American
Medical Association) believe that spontaneous reactive hypoglycemia
(hypoglycemia in the absence of diabetes) is a virtually nonexistent
condition which has been faddishly overdiagnosed.
Among those who do accept spontaneous reactive hypoglycemia as a
legitimate diagnosis, the most common estimate I've found is that
about one-tenth of Americans - 20 million people - suffer from
hypoglycemia. This is approximately the same as the number of
Americans who are diabetic.
======================================================================
"For one person in every ten, sugar is a deadly food, paving the way
toward a hundred distressing physical symptoms, plus all the tortures
of neurotic and even psychotic behavior. For that person a little
sugar is akin to a little carbolic acid." - Carlton Federicks, Ph.D.,
author of New Low Blood Sugar And You
The Hypoglycemia Support Foundation
http://www.hypoglycemia.org/hypo.asp
======================================================================
"Blamed on 'the sugar-laden American diet,' hypoglycemia is estimated
by some physicians to affect over 20 million people in the United
States... The American Medical Association is among those who insist
that hypoglycemia is nearly a nonexistent condition. They believe it
to be a popular status disorder, or the 'in' disease of the jet-set
attributable to too much stress and heavy drinking. Still others
believe that it is a carbohydrate metabolism disorder that can be
avoided or easily controlled. Many also believe it to be the invention
of self-diagnosing health faddists and hypochondriacs."
Women's Health Connection
http://www.womenshealthconnection.com/articles/hypo.htm
======================================================================
"In Hypoglycemia: A Better Approach, Dr. Paavo Airola writes that the
heavily sugar-laden American diet has resulted in an epidemic of
hypoglycemia. Over 20 million Americans are affected."
Church of the Trinity MCC: The Sugar Addict's Diet
http://www.trinitymcc.com/about_trinity/Speech%20on%20Sugar%20Addicts%20Diet.pdf
======================================================================
"Dr. Airola believes that hypoglycemia is one of the most mysterious
and complicated diseases. It has been estimated that 10% of Americans
have this disease, that is over 20 million people."
Chirobase
http://www.cbase.com/hypo.htm
======================================================================
"While most adults have blood glucose levels that are higher than that
required to sustain metabolic processes, over 20 million Americans
suffer from some form of hypoglycemia - i.e., blood glucose levels
that are lower than desirable. Of the several different types of
hypoglycemia, one of the most common is reactive hypoglycemia, which
is caused by the excess release of insulin in response to ingestion of
too many refined carbohydrates or sugars."
Life Extension Foundation
http://www.lef.org/magazine/mag2004/jan2004_awsi_03.htm
======================================================================
"Although an estimated 20-40 million Americans have it, this disease
is one of the most often undiagnosed."
From "Earl Mindell's Vitamin Bible for the 21st Century"
======================================================================
"Because the AMA can't seem to find their definition, place of
diagnosis, or reason to call it a disease, they consider it rare, and
rarely consider it at all, while everyone else in the field believes
that up to 20 million people in this country are suffering from it.
Hypoglycemia is not a problem for you unless you are one of the 20
million that might be suffering when your doctor says you aren't..."
From "Sober... And Staying That Way: The Missing Link in the Cure for
Alcoholism," by Susan Powter
======================================================================
Regarding hypoglycemia in athletes, if we eliminate the hypoglycemia
that is sometimes an after-effect of some athletes' deliberate
injection of insulin, the kind of hypoglycemia that athletes are most
likely to experience is rebound hypoglycemia related to carbohydrate
metabolism during intense exertion.
"Hypoglycemia is an unusual problem following an endurance event.
Athletes at risk are those involved in very long distance events who
fail to consume adequate carbohydrate or who have an eating disorder."
The Physician and Sports Medicine
http://www.physsportsmed.com/issues/2003/0303/speedy.htm
"Athletes have been cautioned that eating carbohydrate foods in the
hour before exercise may alter exercise metabolism by stimulating
insulin production, which in turn increases the rate at which the
muscles burn carbohydrate. As a result of this faster rate of
carbohydrate oxidation, blood glucose levels may actually fall (a
condition known as hypoglycemia) shortly after exercise begins. In
most cases this effect is short term, and metabolism corrects itself
as exercise continues. The occasional athlete experiences impaired
performance, and it has been found in one study."
Sportscience
http://www.sportsci.org/news/compeat/glycemic.html
"For specific individuals or during unique training situations, a low
GI pre-event meal may be of particular benefit. Some athletes show an
exaggerated and negative response when they eat carbohydrate foods in
the hour before exercise. About 5% of the population experience a
rebound hypoglycemia or blood sugar drop - and they feel terrible. Why
this response occurs in some people is unknown. During unusual
endurance sessions such as open water swimming where practical
difficulties prevent the athlete from consuming carbohydrate during
the session, the pre-event meal may have greater bearing on metabolism
and fuel availability during the event, and a low GI [glycemic index]
carbohydrate meal may sustain blood glucose, and performance."
American Fitness Professionals & Associates
http://www.afpafitness.com/articles/CARBEAT.HTM
======================================================================
Google Search Strategy:
Google Web Search: "estimated" + "million" + "low blood sugar" + "hypoglycemia"
://www.google.com/search?hl=en&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&q=estimated+million+%22low+blood+sugar%22+hypoglycemia
Google Web Search: "reactive hypoglycemia" + "million"
://www.google.com/search?hl=en&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&q=%22reactive+hypoglycemia%22+million
Google Web Search: "hypoglycemia" + "athletes"
://www.google.com/search?hl=en&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&q=hypoglycemia+athletes
======================================================================
I hope this information is useful. If anything is unclear, or if a
link doesn't work for you, please request clarification; I'll be glad
to offer further assistance before you rate my answer.
Best regards,
pinkfreud |
Clarification of Answer by
pinkfreud-ga
on
24 Feb 2004 12:12 PST
I am sorry you found it necessary to give a mediocre rating to my
answer before I had a chance to post additional material for you.
Ratings, once assigned, cannot be changed.
Regarding the American Medical Association's stance on hypoglycemia,
here's some info:
"In 1968, the Journal of the American Medical Association advised
physicians that there was no scientific basis for the claims made by
the foundation [The Hypoglycemia Foundation] and that its literature
contained 'many errors' and some 'bizarre statements.' In 1972, The
Medical Letter concluded:
Many persons believe that hypoglycemia can cause disorders such as
arthritis, alcoholism, drug addiction, insomnia, chronic fatigue, loss
of libido, and schizophrenia. . . . The treatment usually recommended
is avoidance of coffee and sweets and injections of adrenocortical
extract."
Quackwatch
http://www.quackwatch.org/01QuackeryRelatedTopics/ace.html
Here's an abstract from an article published in 1989 in the Journal of
the American Medical Association which suggests that reactive
hypoglycemia is essentially a psychiatric problem:
"The clinical characteristics and scores on the Minnesota Multiphasic
Personality Inventory (MMPI) of 192 patients undergoing a five-hour
oral glucose tolerance test (OGTT) for evaluation of reactive
hypoglycemia were assessed. There were twice as many women as men. One
hundred twenty-nine patients had spells of light-headedness,
shakiness, diaphoresis, weakness, and fatigue. Hypoglycemic symptoms
occurring during the test were not related to level of plasma glucose
nadir or to rate of descent of glucose level. Hypoglycemia was not
found when glucose levels were measured during occurrence of
spontaneous symptoms in 86 patients. MMPI scores were significantly
different from those of general medical patients. Both men and women
evinced a conversion V profile. The five-hour OGTT seems unreliable
for the diagnosis of reactive hypoglycemia, and most patients with
symptoms suggestive of hypoglycemia may have emotional disturbances."
http://jama.ama-assn.org/cgi/content/abstract/243/11/1151?maxtoshow=&HITS=10&hits=10&RESULTFORMAT=&fulltext=hypoglycemia&searchid=1077651030769_4754&stored_search=&FIRSTINDEX=10&journalcode=jama
The Journal of the American Medical Association published a "Statement
on Hypoglycemia" in the JAMA issue of February, 1973. Unfortunately,
the article is not available online. You may be able to access it at
your local library. Another article which may be of interest, entitled
"Postprandial Hypoglycemia: Fact or Fiction?" appeared in the JAMA in
September, 1975. ("Postprandial" means "occuring after a meal.")
From the Division of Endocrinology and Metabolism at the University of
California at San Francisco, here's a brief summary giving the
skeptical view of reactive hypoglycemia as an overdiagnosed disorder:
"Ten to 20 years ago, hypoglycemia was a popular diagnosis. However,
studies now show that this condition is actually quite rare. In these
studies, most patients who experienced the symptoms of hypoglycemia
after eating glucose-rich foods consistently had normal levels of
blood sugar--above 60 mg/dl. Some researchers have suggested that some
people may be extra sensitive to the body's normal release of the
hormone epinephrine after a meal... For many years, the oral glucose
tolerance test (OGTT) was used to diagnose hypoglycemia. Experts now
realize that the OGTT can actually trigger hypoglycemic symptoms in
people with no signs of the disorder."
USCF Medical Center
http://mountzion.ucsfmedicalcenter.org/endocrinology/hy2.html
Here's a harsh assessment of reactive hypoglycemia as a "nondisease"
and a "fashionable diagnosis":
"The history of 'nondisease' dates back, at least 4000 years, to early
descriptions of hysteria. More recently somatization became a part of
the official diagnostic nomenclature by creation of the DSM III
category, 'somatoform disorders.' Somatization can serve as a
rationalization for psychosocial problems or as a coping mechanism,
and for some illness, becomes a way of life. One variation of
somatization can be the 'fashionable diagnosis', for example,
fibromyalgia, multiple chemical sensitivities, dysautonomia, and, in
the past, 'reactive hypoglycemia'. These disorders are
phenomenologically related to environmental or occupational syndromes
and mass psychogenic illness. Fashionable illnesses are characterized
by (i) vague, subjective multisystem complaints, (ii) a lack of
objective laboratory findings, (iii) quasi-scientific explanations,
(iv) overlap from one fashionable diagnosis to another, (v) symptoms
consistent with depression or anxiety or both, (vi) denial of
psychosocial distress or attribution of it to the illness. Fashionable
diagnoses represent a heterogeneous collection of physical diseases,
somatization, and anxiety or depression. They are final common
symptomatic pathways for a variety of influences including
environmental factors, intrapersonal distress and solutions to social
problems. A fashionable diagnosis allows psychosocial distress to be
comfortably hidden from both the patient and the physician, but
premature labeling can also mask significant physical disease.
Hysteria remains alive and well and one contemporary hiding place is
fashionable illness."
Abstract, "Somatization and fashionable diagnoses: illness as a way of life."
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=PubMed&list_uids=9456062&dopt=Abstract
This page has a lengthy list of scientific articles on the subject of
hypoglycemia. Again, your public library may come in handy, since few
of these articles are available online:
Hypoglycemia Homepage Holland: Scientific Literature about Hypoglycemia
http://lightning.prohosting.com/~hypoglyc/scienlit.htm
Hope this helps! In the future, please remember that it's best to hold
off on giving a low rating, since most Researchers are more than
willing to do additional work to satisfy a customer. We are not always
able to respond as quickly as you might hope, since (as in this case)
we may be in bed asleep when your request for additional material
comes in.
~pinkfreud
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