I have described previously symptoms on how doctors diagnose and determine the type of diabetes you have which you may consider being the shortest of the short-term complications Diabetes Mellitus is that they are mild and in some case start to subside once treatment begins.

I would like to now discuss how the more serious forms of short term complications Diabetes Mellitus occur due to your blood sugar levels being out of control reaching either dangerous high or low levels.

Complications Diabetes Mellitus:

With short-term complications you can experience problems any time during the course of your Diabetes.  Short term means that the symptoms arise rapidly in your body whereas the long term complications develop over many years.  Short term complications can develop in days or even hours and luckily they respond to treatment as quickly.

If you become seriously ill through trauma or acute illness it is even more important to take blood glucose readings even more regularly as you are more vulnerable to short term complications of your disease.

Short Term Complications Diabetes Mellitus – what is it all about?

As a person with diabetes you are always in constant battle with high blood glucose which is responsible for both long term and short term complications of the disease.  On one hand your doctor will prescribe drugs and other treatments and suggestions in an effort to fine tune your blood glucose as it would function normally in other non-Diabetics bodies.

Unfortunately these drugs are not at times perfect for instance if you either take too much of the drug, exercise too vigorously or eat too little you blood glucose level can drop to low levels that you would start to experience symptoms.

Hypoglycaemia is when you have too little glucose in the blood and as your brain requires glucose to function and to run the rest of the body. Also muscles require energy that the glucose provides so when there is very little glucose in the blood that is when symptoms will start to appear.

Interestingly when the body knows that it has low blood glucose it floods the body with a group of hormones that quickly raise the glucose. But the hormones have to battle the medication for Diabetes that you have been prescribes to lower the glucose levels.

As each individual is different there is not just not one level that blood glucose that it drops to that you gets hypoglycaemia and it is also takes into consideration the length of time that you have had diabetes.  There are many medical doctors that agree that if a blood glucose of 3.5 mmol/L or less is measured that the person is exhibiting signs or symptoms of Hypoglycaemia.

There are symptoms that the brain is not getting adequate amounts of glucose which when this happens impairs the intellectual function.

Adrenergic symptoms is when the blood glucose falls rapidly and you could get the following warning signals that can alert you are hypoglycaemic:

• Sensation of being hungry
• Fast to rapid heart beat
• Sweating
• Anxiety
• Going pale or feel that you may faint

Neutoglycopaenic symptoms develop when your hypoglycaemia takes longer to develop.  These symptoms become more severe as blood glucose levels continue to drop lower. These signs can confirm you are either have or showing the signs that you are getting hypoglycaemia:

• Tiredness or fatigue
• Loss of concentration
• Confusion
• Convulsions
• Coma
• Headache

People will lose the ability to have clear thought processes when they are hypoglycaemic and if they have not discussed this with work mates they can appear as though they are drunk.

Hypoglycaemia is a result from elevated amounts of insulin driving down the blood glucose levels to low levels, but an extra high doses of insulin isn’t always the way to go there are a number of factors such as the amount of food you have eaten and when this was taken, the amount of glucose you have burnt as fuel when you have been exercising all of these things can affect the blood glucose levels.

If you take insulin injections you will need to time this with your food intake to raise your blood glucose as the insulin it taking effect.  There are different types of insulin that are most potent at different times after you inject them.  For instance if you miss a meal or if the insulin you normally take it taken too early or late your glucose levels will not be in sync and you will suffer a hypo (hypoglycaemia).

Diabetics diet plays a major role in helping to avoid a hypo especially if you take insulin you are better to snack morning and afternoon in conjunction with the normal breakfast lunch and dinner.  When your food is timed correctly you are providing your body with a steady source of glucose to balance the insulin you have administered.

When you exercise generally speaking this will lowers your blood glucose as well as exercise burns more of your body’s glucose.  There are some people who have diabetes who use exercise in place of using extra insulin to get their high blood glucose down to a normal level.  The catch is if you don’t adjust your insulin dose or food intake to match your exercise this can result in hypoglycaemia.

As you can see short term complications diabetes mellitus all revolves around you and your blood glucose levels you definitely play a major role in helping to prevent hypoglycaemia.