Insulin

SCIENCE

“ High levels of glucose in your blood can be damaging and even fatal”

The importance of insulin Thepancreas producesinsulinfor thebodytobeable The hormone that controls your blood sugar levels toabsorbglucose

Whenyoueat,yourdigestivesystem breaks down the food and passes its nutrients into your bloodstream. These nutrients include glucose (sugar), but high levels of glucose in your blood can be damaging and even fatal. To keep these levels low, your pancreas produces insulin to help cells absorb the glucose so they can use it as energy. As well as helping fat and muscle cells toabsorbglucose,insulinhelpsyourliverhold ontoanyexcessglucoseinyourbodysothatit can release it when it is needed, such as between meals, when exercising or if your blood sugar level is too low.

If your body fails to produce any or enough insulin, or if your cells become resistant to the hormone, this results in a condition known as diabetes. It increases your blood sugar level and you can develop hyperglycaemia. To try to get ridoftheexcessglucoseinyourblood,your bodywillpassitin your urine.Butitwill also take more water with it, leading to an increase in frequency and volume of urination and an increase in thirst. If left untreated, it can lead to a condition called diabetic ketoacidosis, where the body breaks down fats and proteins for energy instead of sugars, resulting in a build-up of ketones (acids) in the blood. This canleadtounconsciousnessandevendeath.

Injectinginsulin

Therearetwomaintypesofdiabetes.Type1 occurswhenthepancreasdoesnotproduceany insulin,andType2occurswhenthepancreas doesn’tproduceenoughinsulinorifthebody’s cellsdonotreacttotheinsulinbeingproduced. Althoughthereisnocurefordiabetes,people withType1cancontrolthesystemsbyregularly injectingthemselveswithinsulinorusingapump thatconstantlysendsinsulinintotheirbloodata ratetheycontrol.Theyalsoneedtomonitortheir bloodsugarlevelsbyprickingtheirfingerand placingadropofbloodonthetestingstripofa bloodglucosemeter.Doingthisbeforeandafter mealswillhelpthemadjusttheirinsulin injectionsanddietaccordingly.PeoplewithType 2diabetescancontroltheirsymptomsbyeating ahealthy,balanceddietandexercisingmore regularly,butmayneedinjectionsiftheir conditionprogresses.

Insulin in action

How the body’s cells absorb glucose for energy

Glucose absorbed

The insulin stimulates glucose transporter molecules to move to the outer membrane, allowing the cell to absorb glucose.

Insulin produced

When the concentration of glucose in the blood increases, the beta cells of the islets of Langerhans in the pancreas produce insulin.

Insulin can be injected into the abdomen, upper arm, upper buttocks or outer thigh

Fat cells (adipocytes)

In fat-tissue cells, glucose increases the uptake of fatty acids to create the storage form of fat.

Insulin attaches

Insulin binds to the insulin receptors on the outer membrane of the body’s fat and muscle cells.

Muscle cells (myocytes)

In muscle-tissue cells, glucose is stored as glycogen, which is broken down to supply the muscles with energy when needed.