Monitoring the level of sugar (glucose) in your blood is the key to controlling your diabetes. To be sure your glucose and insulin are in balance, check your blood sugar regularly. You can check your blood sugar level by using a blood glucose meter. Here's how.

The purpose of blood sugar is to provide "food" for your body's cells. Glucose is the sugar that provides energy all cells in your body need.

Too much glucose (sugar) in your blood is called hyperglycemia or high blood sugar. It can be caused by eating too much food, especially carbohydrates, by not being active, or by not taking your medication.

Too little glucose (sugar) in your blood is called hypoglycemia or low blood sugar. Diabetes itself doesn't cause low blood sugar. But some of the treatments for diabetes, such as pills or insulin, may put you at risk for it.

Low blood sugar can be caused by three factors: too much insulin in your body; not enough carbohydrates in your diet; or your body's inability to transfer glucose from digested food into the bloodstream. Hypoglycemia is a common complication of diabetes and rarely occurs in people who do not have diabetes.

When your cells can't get glucose (a kind of sugar) to burn for energy, they burn fat instead. This leaves behind acids called ketones in your blood and urine. A buildup of ketones can cause a dangerous condition called ketoacidosis.

The official term for blood sugar is glucose, and having either too little or too much of it occupies the minds of people with diabetes daily -- even hourly. But keeping blood sugar at safe levels can be achieved by most patients through monitoring, diet, exercise and drug therapy.