2 september 2016

Short- and medium-term effects of light to moderate alcohol intake on glycaemic control in diabetes mellitus: a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized trials

BACKGROUND: People with diabetes are told that drinking alcohol may increase their risk of hypoglycaemia. AIMS: To report the effects of alcohol consumption on glycaemic control in people with diabetes mellitus.

METHODS: Medline, EMBASE and the CochraneCochrane is a global independent network of health practitioners researchers patient advocates and o... library databases were searched in 2015 to identify randomized trials that compared alcohol consumption with no alcohol use, reporting glycaemic control in people with diabetes. Data on blood glucose, HbA1c and numbers of hypoglycaemic episodes were pooled using random effects meta-analysis.

RESULTS: Pooled data from nine short-term studies showed no difference in blood glucose concentrations between those who drank alcohol in doses of 16-80 g (median 20g, 2.5 units) compared with those who did not drink alcohol at 0.5, 2, 4 and 24 h after alcohol consumption. Pooled data from five medium-term studies showed that there was no difference in blood glucose or HbA1c concentrations at the end of the study between those who drank 11-18 g alcohol/day (median 13g/day, 1.5 units/day) for 4-104 weeks and those who did not. We found no evidence of a difference in number of hypoglycaemic episodes or in withdrawal rates between randomized groups.

CONCLUSIONS: Studies to date have not provided evidence that drinking light to moderate amounts of alcohol, with or without a meal, affects any measure of glycaemic control in people with Type 2 diabetes. These results suggest that current advice that people with diabetes do not need to refrain from drinking moderate quantities of alcohol does not need to be changed; risks to those with Type 1 diabetes remain uncertain. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.

Additional Info

  • Authors

    Hirst J.A.; Aronson J.K.; Feakins B.G.; Ma C.; Farmer A.J.; Stevens R.J.
  • Issue

    Diabet Med. 2016 Sep 2. doi: 10.1111/dme.13259. [Epub ahead of print]
  • Published Date

    2 september 2016