Understanding How Type Diabetes Works
The Big Diabetes Lie
Type 1 diabetes is all about glucose and insulin. What's the difference? Here's what you need to know:
i Glucose is one of many sugars, but it happens to be the specific sugar found in your blood that provides instant energy. Sugar is a carbohydrate, one of the three sources of energy in your body, along with protein and fat.
i Insulin is a chemical known as a hormone, which means that it's made in an organ, in this case the pancreas, and carried around the body in the bloodstream. The function of insulin is to act as a key to the "door" in each cell of the body that opens to allow glucose in. However, not every cell requires insulin to get its glucose; some cells and organs take up glucose without using insulin. These include
• The retinas of the eyes
• Blood vessels
Figure 2-1 shows the pancreas and its parts along with its location behind the stomach. The insulin-producing and insulin-storing pancreas cells (called B or beta cells) are found in groups called islets of Langerhans throughout the pancreas. Other cells present in the islets of Langerhans include A cells, which produce glucagon, a hormone that's very important to patients with diabetes because it raises blood glucose when it gets too low; and D cells, which make somatostatin, a hormone that blocks the secretion of other hormones but doesn't have a use in diabetes because it causes high blood glucose.
In people who don't have type 1 diabetes, the presence of insulin helps control the conversion of glucose into energy in the body. People with type 1 diabetes, however, go through a triggering event (most likely a viral infection) that leads to a lack of insulin in the body, which in turn leads to having uncontrolled glucose (and that can cause some bad stuff to happen). I explain how the whole process works in the following sections.
Figure 2-1:
The pancreas, its parts, and its location.
Figure 2-1:
The pancreas, its parts, and its location.
Was this article helpful?
Delicious Diabetic Recipes
This brilliant guide will teach you how to cook all those delicious recipes for people who have diabetes.
Post a comment