It is not a result of diabetes itself; after all, diabetes is a reflection of high levels of glucose in the blood. The problem is, so many things affect blood glucose levels, that whilst your doctor can prescribe, quite properly, drugs or insulin with the appropriate doses, some unusual exercise or skipping a meal, can cause the medication to lower the blood glucose to such an extent, that a “hypo” occurs.

These events are usually mild in nature, and easily rectified with a couple of glucose tablets or a sugary drink with about 15 grams of glucose in it. Generally you should then wait 20 minutes, particularly if you are operating machinery, including a car, and then take your blood glucose level again.

However, one of the side effects of a “hypo” is a slight loss of concentration or intellectual focus. It is therefore a good idea to tell friends and family about your condition, with particular reference as to what to do in the event of a “hypo”.

People will be glad to know and be able to help you if needed. Bear in mind, that although unlikely, the ultimate form of a “hypo” results in a diabetic coma!

It is important that if you become drowsy or unconscious during a hypoglycaemic episode, people do not try and feed you anything, as you may not be able to swallow.

It is also a good idea to carry an emergency kit, consisting of a sugary drink and chocolate or similar. This way you always have something on hand, should you feel the onset of a “hypo”.

In addition, a glucagon injecting kit is a good precaution. Glucagon is a hormone that increases blood glucose levels. The kit will have a syringe with 1 milligram of glucagon, which should be injected into the muscle. Some people are very squeamish when it comes to injections, but it’s a good idea to find someone at those critical places, like work and home, who you can show and depend on them to administer if necessary.

Glucagon takes about an hour to work. If you have none of these things to hand and you are really struggling, have someone dial for the emergency services, who can administer the necessary glucose intravenously.

It took the effort of five able bodied policemen to bundle him into the waiting police van. He kicked and cursed as he was taken to the nearest hospital; he was actually bleeding profusely from the left brow and needed to be taken to the hospital fast. I followed the police van on a motor bike; I needed to see what happened at the hospital as the young man’s behaviour was completely strange to me.

On arrival at the hospital, another drama ensued: the patient refused to come down from the van. He held on to one of the poles by the side of the vehicle. The policemen tried all the tricks they knew to get him down from the vehicle, all to no avail. He eventually grew weaker and began to faint before they could get him into the emergency ward. He was given an anaesthesia before the doctor and nurses could stitch his wounds.

The following day I paid him a visit, only to meet a very sober person showing some signs of depression. He was completely disappointed at himself: he admitted he was under the influence of drugs. He realized that he would have died because of his stupid acts if not because of the police.

Why should you not do drugs? You should never do drugs because if you do, you are likely to encounter one of these problems:

1. You are not in charge of your actions: Drugs would make you not be in charge of your senses and actions. You would lose your reasoning power and do things that would likely endanger your life.

2. You are prone to crimes: Drugs could push you to commit crimes like stealing, rape, murder etc.

3. Regret: Doing drugs brings a life of regret: you will definitely realize one day that you have done what you never intended to do, and when that happens your life would be filled with disappointments and regrets. For example, if you raped a girl or committed murder under the influence of drugs, you would live to regret your action for the rest of your life.

4. Adaptation problem: Becoming addicted to substances would make it difficult for you to adapt to normal way of life, as you are likely to depend on these substances in order to carry out normal daily activities such as sleeping, relaxing, toileting, digesting food etc.

5. Poverty: it is difficult to become rich when you do drugs, because you are going to spend a bulk of the money that you get on purchasing those drugs and substances. Since there is always a compulsion to take the substances, you are likely to spend a huge proportion of your earnings on substances, and in the long run you suffer poverty.