My Wife Says It's Dangerous To Give Me Time To Think

Rather like a bored predator.  Last night, I returned from the gym so tired I forgot to take my Metformin which reduces blood sugar levels by telling the liver to ignore the pancreas' signal to dump sugar into the blood forcing existing blood sugar into the cells for metabolism.  The downside of this reduction in blood sugar is reduced thinking.  So today, my brain was roaring along at almost normal pace, and I found myself wondering if there was a connection between bipolar disorder and blood sugar-related problems like diabetes and cardiovascular disease (CVD).  Sure enough:

The age-, race-, and sex-adjusted prevalence of CVD was significantly greater among subjects with BD-I versus controls [odds ratio (OR) = 4.95, 95% confidence interval (CI): 4.27–5.75] and versus subjects with major depressive disorder [(MDD); OR =1.80, 95% CI: 1.52–2.14], as was the prevalence of HTN (OR = 2.38, 95% CI: 2.16–2.62 versus controls, OR = 1.44, 95% CI: 1.30–1.61 versus MDD; p < 0.0001 for all). Controlling additionally for marital status, education, income, obesity, smoking, anxiety disorders, and substance use disorders did not substantially alter these findings. The mean age of BD-I subjects with CVD and HTN was 14 and 13 years younger, respectively, than controls with CVD and HTN.

and:

Results:The analysis of 60 patients showed a prevalence of

the metabolic syndrome of 16.7% (ATP-III), 18.3%(adapted ATP-III) and 30.0%) (IDF), respectively. A total of 6.7% of the patients met criteria for diabetes and 23.3% for pre-diabetic abnormalities. 

 

Conclusions:The metabolic syndrome and glucose abnormalities are highly prevalent among patients with BD.They represent an important risk for cardiovascular and metabolic disorders. Assessment of the presence and monitoring of metabolic abnormalities and its associated risks should be part of the clinical management of patients with BD.

I suspect that I am not the only person with mild bipolar disorder who uses sugar to feel better and get something done.  (The old saying: "An engineer is a device for converting coffee into software" is also true for sugar.)  But there are long-term negative results from too much sugar in the blood.