Diabetes

• The background

The body is able to adjust to the fluctuating internal and external environment with a process called HOMEOSTASIS (like a feedback system with a central control center)

Examples of Homeostasis

• - the nervous and hormonal systems act on digestion before we even eat: seeing, smelling and tasting food stimulates gastric secretions

• - swallowing stimulates production of gastric juices, ex. the hormone gastrin stimulate gastric juice release before food gets to stomach

Examples of Homeostasis• ex. blood sugar levels:• - constant concentration is crucial to

our well-being, if fall below a certain value our brains shut down (coma)

• - when we eat the blood sugar (glucose) goes up and insulin is released from the pancreas, which allows liver and muscles to take up glucose

• Liver cells turn glucose into glycogen• When blood sugar decreases, pancreas

release glucagon (glycogen → glucose)• Glucose is then released into blood stream

Diabetes

• A chronic disease in which body cells are unable to use glucose to provide energy for msucles and tissues

• Diabetes develops when there is not enough insulin in the bloodstream or when the body cannot use the insulin made by the pancreas

Instead of this…..

normal glucose

normal glucose

high glucose

food

low glucose

insulin release

(pancreas)

cells take up excess glucose, liver makes glycogen

glucagon release

(pancreas)

glycogen release

as glucose (liver)

• Glucose cannot get into cells and blood glucose levels can increase to life-threatening levels

Types of DiabetesType 1 – insulin-producing cells of the pancreas are

destroyed by the immune system (often diagnosed in childhood)

Type 2 – body does not make enough insulin or does not use the insulin it makes

(often in people over 40, but changing)

Gestational diabetes – during pregnancy due to hormone imbalance or inadequate insulin production

Not good news

• Risk factors include inactivity, weight/diet, age and family history

• Increasing type II in younger people

• Lots of complications like heart disease, kidney damage, eye damage, nerve damage, etc.

Treating diabetesBlood sugar monitoring, healthy eating and regular

exercise

Diabetes medication – e.g. lower liver glucose production

Insulin therapy – e.g. injection, computerized insulin pumps

Weigh loss surgery