Diabetes & Hypoglycaemia (low blood sugar levels)

Hypoglycaemia literally means too little (hypo-) sugar (-glyc-) in your blood (-aemia). If your blood sugar levels begin to fall, your body will stimulate the release of the sugar that you have stored in numerous cells of your body (in the form of glycogen). These stored are stimulated to be release via the hormone glucagon that it released by the pancreas. However, if you are diabetic and inject yourself with insulin to allow the cells of your body to absorb the sugar from your blood then your body may have a reduced response to glucagon.  This means that your body will not be able to increase the amount of sugar in your blood very quickly and this can cause the cells of your body to be starved of sugar (which they need for energy). Hypoglycaemia can occur very quickly although it is usually only mild and you can treat yourself by having something to eat (so that the food sugar is absorbed into your blood from your intestines). However, severe hypoglycaemia is a medical emergency as it can quickly cause confusion, seizures, diabetic coma and even death.

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