If hypoglycaemia is not recognised, it can lead to a numbers of problems including:

• Falls, which may result in fractures if the person is trying to walk or transfer from chair to bed/chair.
• It may cause the person to appear flustered, aggressive or even uncharacteristically violent.
• It may cause the person to have difficulty with speech, feeding, dressing and toileting themselves.
• It may cause weight loss if the person is not having adequate food.
• If blood sugars are consistently low then the person may appear to have withdrawn from their surroundings, or appear to be weak, tired or generally deteriorating in health.
• In some cases it may lead to a heart attack or stroke.

Reviewed March 2010
Next review September 2011