A closer look
Biology bows to economics when it comes to chronic disease. In a phenomenon tragically dubbed the "food stamp cycle," emergency room admissions for severe hypoglycemia spike massively in the last week of the month among low-income populations. As SNAP benefits deplete, patients drastically cut calories but still take their full doses of insulin or sulfonylureas. Medical science tries to treat diabetes with perfect glucose algorithms, willfully ignoring that survival often hinges on the government's calendar.
