When you hear the word insulin you may think of a drug taken by people who have diabetes either type 1 or type 2.
Yes this is true, but what you may not know that insulin is already one of hormones secreted by your body.
Insulin is important to the body, insulin allows the body sugar – glucose – to enter into the body cells to provide them with energy for their proper function.
When you eat your body breaks down the food into the smallest and simplest form which is glucose that travels within your blood stream to provide cells with energy.
So for glucose to get into the cells , it needs insulin hormone, when insulin arrives it signals the cells to activate glucose transporters. These transporters pull glucose through the cell wall into the cells to deliver energy.
So what if your body doesn’t have enough insulin ? ( Insulin deficiency )
Insulin is produced by B-Cells on the pancreas. In people with diabetes type 1 this process doesn’t work the way it should or may be it was produced but there is a resistance from the body cells as in diabetes type 2 or insulin produced was very low to do an effect.
Because patients with type 1 diabetes are with no insulin, they must inject insulin several times a day or using insulin pump.
Injected insulin helps to reduce the amount of glucose in the blood stream by getting it into cells where energy is needed.
How to inject insulin : How to give an insulin injection?
Types of insulin formulations : Insulin formulations
Video credits to Sanofi-Aventis
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