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Insulin is a hormone. Like many hormones, insulin is a protein. Insulin is secreted by groups of cells within the pancreas called islet cells. The pancreas is an organ that sits behind the stomach and has many functions in addition to insulin production. Carbohydrates (or sugars) are absorbed from the intestines into the bloodstream after a meal. Insulin is then secreted by the pancreas in response to this detected increase in blood sugar. Most cells of the human body have insulin receptors which bind the insulin which is in circulation. When a cell has insulin attched to its suface the cell activates other receptors disgned to absorb glucose (sugar) from the blood stream into the inside of the cell. Thus creating energy for the body.
Without insulin you could eat lots and lots of food and actually be in a state of starvation since many of our cells cannot access the calories contained in the glucose very well without the action of insulin. This is why people with type 1 diabetes who do not make insulin can become very ill without insulin shots. Insulin is a necessary hormone. Those who develop a deficiency to insulin must have it replaced via shots or pumps (this is type 1 diabetes).
More commonly people will develope insulin resistance (type 2 diabetes) rather than a true deficiency to insulin. In this case the levels of insulin in the blood are similar or even higher than in people without diabetes. However many cells of people with type 2 diabetes respond sluggishly to the insulin they make and therefore their cells cannot absorb the sugar very well. This leads to blood sugar levels which run higher than normal. Occasionally people with type 2 diabetes will need insulin shots but most of the time other methods of treatment work.
Insulin was the first hormone identified (late 1920's), which won the doctor and medical student who discovered it the Nobel Prize (Banting and Best). They discovered insulin by tying a string around the pancreatic duct of several dogs. When they examined the pancreases of these dogs several weeks later all the pancreas digestive cells were gone (died and absorbed by the immune system), and the only thing left were thousands of little pancreatic islets. They then isolated the protein from these islets and they discovered insulin. They never could have imagined then the way insulin was going to be used someday down the road
Without insulin you could eat lots and lots of food and actually be in a state of starvation since many of our cells cannot access the calories contained in the glucose very well without the action of insulin. This is why people with type 1 diabetes who do not make insulin can become very ill without insulin shots. Insulin is a necessary hormone. Those who develop a deficiency to insulin must have it replaced via shots or pumps (this is type 1 diabetes).
More commonly people will develope insulin resistance (type 2 diabetes) rather than a true deficiency to insulin. In this case the levels of insulin in the blood are similar or even higher than in people without diabetes. However many cells of people with type 2 diabetes respond sluggishly to the insulin they make and therefore their cells cannot absorb the sugar very well. This leads to blood sugar levels which run higher than normal. Occasionally people with type 2 diabetes will need insulin shots but most of the time other methods of treatment work.
Insulin was the first hormone identified (late 1920's), which won the doctor and medical student who discovered it the Nobel Prize (Banting and Best). They discovered insulin by tying a string around the pancreatic duct of several dogs. When they examined the pancreases of these dogs several weeks later all the pancreas digestive cells were gone (died and absorbed by the immune system), and the only thing left were thousands of little pancreatic islets. They then isolated the protein from these islets and they discovered insulin. They never could have imagined then the way insulin was going to be used someday down the road
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