This is how I have come to understand the workings of blood sugar. Please point out where I’m going wrong.
Glucose (sugar) comes from food. Insulin is a hormone that turns glucose into glycogen (fat) in the liver. The hormone glucagon turns glycogen back into glucose. Diabetics produce too little insulin, so their body can’t properly turn glucose into glycogen. So, if they don’t take their insulin with a meal, their blood sugar becomes too high. So far so good.
But how does this lead to low blood sugar? Their glucagon is working fine, so they should be able to turn glycogen into glucose when they need it. Right? Does this only occur when a diabetic accidentally takes too much insulin?
There are tons of different sources on this topic, but they’re either too confusing or they contradict each other. It doesn’t help that there are two types of diabetes. If anyone can explain, I’d appreciate it a lot!
In: Biology
You are on the right track! Keep it up! Let me know if there is anything you want more clarification on!
>Diabetics produce too little insulin
Type 1 diabetics produce little to no insulin so they take insulin shots. Often times, they become hypoglycemic because they took too much insulin causing the body to turn the glucose into glycogen. Sometimes, as a type 1 first starts showing symptoms, as the insulin producing cells in the pancreas gets destroyed, it will release the insulin it stored causing hypoglycemia too.
Type 2 diabetics are resistant to insulin so they need more insulin to have the same effect. Because of this, some need to take insulin and might overdose causing the same issue as in type 1. Sometimes, a type 2 diabetic’s pancreas will produce extra insulin like a last hurrah causing hypoglycemia. Sometimes a medicine they take to help can also cause hypoglycemia.
>But how does this lead to low blood sugar? Their glucagon is working fine, so they should be able to turn glycogen into glucose when they need it.
Insulin blocks glucagon, and vise versa. So even though we all make glucagon, it wont work if insulin is present in high levels. It makes sense if you think about it. Why make a storage product (glycogen) just to have it unstored right away. After we havent eaten for a while (aka now insulin levels are lower), glucagon can help maintain blood sugar levels by turning glycogen into glucose.
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