Low blood sugar in diabetic kids often missed

Children with type 1 diabetes and their parents have a difficult time recognising warning signs that their blood sugar has fallen to dangerously low levels. Hypoglycaemia is an inevitable consequence of insulin treatment. Severe hypoglycaemia can have harmful consequences including disorientation, unconsciousness and even seizures. American researchers had 61 children, 6 to 11 years old, and their parents rate hypoglycaemia symptoms, estimate the child's blood sugar level, and measure it using a survey programmed on a personal digital assistant. The study participants completed 70 trials of the survey over a month, and then reported episodes of severe hypoglycaemia for the next six months. It was found that parents missed 54 percent of instances when a child had moderate hypoglycaemia, or low blood sugar, while kids missed 41 percent of these episodes. Blood sugar estimates by both parents and children were accurate less than one-third of the time. Parents made mistakes that could have harmful consequences in 23 percent of cases - for example, thinking that a child had high blood sugar when it was actually low, while 27 percent of children's estimates represented potentially harmful mistakes. Parents and children in general are not provided with enough patient education about hypoglycaemia and its impact on the body, especially the central nervous system. When their brains aren't getting enough glucose (sugar), children can lose control over their behaviour, which may look like misbehaviour to their parents. Therefore, more effort is needed to provide education and training designed to improve hypoglycaemia detection.