Causes of hypoglycaemia in a diabetic

At first this seems a superfluous topic to discuss; clearly hypoglycaemia is most often caused by over administration of glycolytic or an excess dose of insulin.

However, other features should be noted:

• injecting insulin into a scarred site, caused by failing to vary the injection site, can result in delayed release of the insulin
• illness can alter the glucose consumption of the body
• alcohol has some unusual effects on the levels of glucose - after an initial rise there is a fall which may catch a diabetic unawares
• exercise and exertion with no alteration in consumption of sugar may result in hypoglycaemia