The Diabetes Lifestyle - Maintaining the Quality of Life
Hypoglycemia - caused by insufficient control of blood glucose levels.
Hypoglycemia is the condition of having too low a level of glucose in the bloodstream. This can be very dangerous and can cause blackouts.
The opposite condition is hyperglycemia (note slightly different spelling) - elevated blood sugar levels which cause damage to the eyes, heart,liver and kidneys and must be avoided by adjusting diet or medications or a combination of both.
Measurement for blood sugar levels is carried out by testing a tiny blood sample using a glucometer machine. A spring loaded lancet is usually used to make the incision and modern ones are almost painless.
In the US measurement is in units of Milligrams per Decilitre (mg/dl) whereas in Europe Micro Moles per Liter (mmo/l) are used. The normal is a range of roughly 100-130 on the US scale and between 6 and 7 on the European scale. What is "normal" does vary with some individuals having either a lower figure than the low threshhold or a bit higher than the high threshhold.