Diabetes is a metabolic disease that develops when the secretory gland called the pancreas does not produce enough insulin hormone in your body or the insulin hormone it produces cannot be used effectively.
Our digestive system breaks down the eating into nutrients. Carbohydrates or various sugars are broken down into glucose for use by the body and absorbed. Glucose is an important fuel source for many organs in our body. However, in order to use glucose as a fuel, the glucose molecule must enter the cell. For this reason, we need a special hormone. Beta cells in the pancreas produce a hormone called insulin.
Insulin is the chemical messenger necessary for the entry of glucose into the cell to regulate blood sugar levels that rise after a meal. Insulin is released into the bloodstream to trigger blood glucose to enter cells. Insulin lowers your blood sugar level, allowing glucose to enter the cell.
Not only insulin but also glucagon which has an effect on blood sugar levels. If your blood sugar levels are too low or you haven’t eaten for too long, glucagon inform the liver to release stored sugar.
The other active hormone in diabetes is GLP-1 which helps the pancreas for production of the right amount of insulin to move sugar from the blood into the cells. When blood sugar gets too high, GLP-1 stimulates beta cells to increase insulin production and also helps lower the amount of sugar converted by the liver. When blood sugar gets too high, insulin production increases. Metabolic disorders in these systems lead to diabetes.
