Moderate alcohol use might be detrimental under certain conditions. We examined the efficiency of maintenance of blood glucose level (BGL) at normal range among non-alcohol and moderate alcohol users under intensive mental activities.

Fourth year medical students - male volunteers (5 non-alcohol and 8 moderate alcohol users who had abstained from alcohol for the last 7-10 days before the study) were involved in the study, which took 6 hrs on fasting. AUDIT, texts and questions, tests on visual, auditory short-term memory and attention were used as a measure. BGL was measured at 2hrs interval. Hypoglycemia was defined according to Galan ED et al (Neth J Med 2006; 64 (8): 269-279) as BGL ≤4.5mMole/L. The t-test was employed for statistical analysis.

Alcohol users on the average drank 23ml of pure ethanol/session and 1-2 times/month. Non-alcohol users had increased BGL (4.02 as initial to 5.76mMole/L after 6hrs) in all phases of the experiment (ð< 0.001). Alcohol users had increase in BGL (0.45mMole/L increase, initial - 4.20) within the first two hours and a significant fall in the 4-6 hrs (p< 0.05) up to 3.80mmole/L, and was accompanied by a significant decrease in mental work productivity coefficient.

Alcohol use even in moderate doses results in hypoglycemia, subsequently leading to low mental work productivity, especially under 4-6 hr intensive mental activities.