Diabetes is *DANGEROUS!* PT 1

The prevalence of diabetes is astounding, and I don't know about you but I was under the impression that this illness was "not a big deal" and could be sorted out easily. BUT NO, after a little research I found out that this illness is more complex and not as innocent as it seems!

So here is part 1 of a series on diabetes

Introduction:

6 insulin molecules 

We all know diabetes has something to do with sugar and insulin but what actually is it? 

Diabetes occurs when the body is unable to regulate the sugar in the blood stream through restricted or no secretion of INSULIN. 

Insulin is the hormone in the body which takes glucose from the blood and stores it as glycogen in the liver and muscles. This allows the cells to use the glucose for respiration.

Insulin is composed of two polypeptide bonds called A chain and B chain. These are attached with 2 disulphide bonds and 1 more disulphide bond is formed within the A chain. 

There are two types of diabetes non-insulin dependent (type 2) and insulin dependent (type 1). Insulin dependent diabetes is an autoimmune condition. This means that the body sees the insulin producing cells in the pancreas (beta- cells in the islets of Langerhans <--- click here) as a foreign body (A Threat!). This leads to their destruction and eventually no insulin is produced in the body. This condition usually presents itself quite early on in life. Non-insulin dependent diabetes on the other hand is caused by either not enough insulin being produced, or when the insulin that is produced is not working properly (known as insulin resistance)  . This type of diabetes has increased exponentially and continues to be a huge problem. This is mainly due to increased obesity levels and an ageing society.

But in order to understand this illness properly we need to first familiarise ourselves with the pancreas and how it works!

The Pancreas is a gland which is located in the abdomen. It has two portions, the endocrine and exocrine. The endocrine portion of the pancreas releases hormones straight into the blood stream. It produces insulin and glucagon which controls the level of glucose in the blood. The exocrine portion releases digestive enzymes into the duodenum of the small intestine. Insulin and glucagon production is controlled by a group of cells called the islets of Langerhans. Insulin is produced by the pancreatic beta cells in response to a high level of glucose in the blood. Similarly glucagon is produced by the alpha cells in response to a low level of sugar in the blood. They work together to maintain a certain level of glucose in the blood stream. 

This is just the beginning of a complex and interesting illness. So hang on for the next part of this series! 

As always, Seemal