Insulin And Glucose - What Happens In The Body?
Author: Maryam Ayres
Time for reading: ~1
minutes
Last Updated:
August 08, 2022
When glucose enters the body, the pancreas releases the amount of insulin it needs so that the cells can absorb it.
Insulin is one of the many hormones produced in the body. It is very important because it allows the sugar - glucose , to reach the cells and provide them with energy . When eating, the body converts carbohydrates into glucose. This is the energy that the body uses for all its needs - from physical activity and treatment to thinking.
Glucose "travels" in the bloodstream, looking for cells that need energy. However, insulin is needed to reach them . It is the key that "unlocks" the cells and allows glucose to enter them.
When this happens, insulin signals the cell to activate the 'carriers' of glucose . They "pull" glucose through the cell walls, and when it reaches the cell itself, it supplies it with energy.
Insulin is produced in the pancreas by so-called beta cells. When glucose enters the body, the pancreas releases the amount of insulin it needs so that the cells can absorb it.
In people with diabetes , this process does not work properly. According to scientists in type 1 diabetes, the immune system mistakenly "attacks" and destroys beta cells in the pancreas. This loses the body's ability to produce insulin.
In type 2 diabetes, the pancreas does not produce enough insulin to meet the body's needs. Over time, the amount of insulin becomes less and less.
Some patients with type 2 diabetes develop insulin resistance. Even if there is a hormone in their blood, the amount is not enough to "unlock" the cells and allow glucose to reach them.
Thus, glucose begins to accumulate in the blood, and the body cannot get the energy it needs to function.
People with diabetes need an extra "supply" of insulin .