How Does The Pancreas Regulate Blood Sugar

What Is The Difference Between Type 1 And Type 2 Diabetes

Both Type 1 and Type 2 diabetes are caused by problems with insulin production or response and are, as a result, inextricably linked to the endocrine system. The difference is in the type and cause of the malfunction:

• Type 1 Diabetes is an autoimmune disorder in which the body attacks its own endocrine system. Over time, the pancreas loses all of its insulin-producing cells, and the patient becomes fully reliant on synthetic insulin to manage their blood glucose.
• Type 2 Diabetes develops over a longer period of time when the body becomes resistant to insulin. As this resistance builds, the pancreas must work harder and harder to meet the body’s demand for insulin until it can no longer keep up.

A patient with Type 2 diabetes may be able to help their pancreas regulate their blood sugar through exercise and diet. However, people with Type 1 diabetes are completely unable to produce insulin, so they must essentially act as their own pancreas by monitoring their blood glucose and administering enough insulin to cope with any changes.

The Pancreas: Your Insulin Factory

When talking about high blood sugar, the first place to start is the pancreas. This pear-shaped organ sits inside the upper left part of the abdomen and is part of the digestive system. The pancreas has two main functions: The exocrine function is to manufacture digestive juices responsible for breaking down all kinds of nutrients including fats, proteins, and carbohydrates. But the pancreas may be best known for the endocrine function that is, making insulin and other hormones.

Response To A Decrease In Blood Glucose

Several hours after eating a meal, when the body is in the post-absorptive state, insulin levels fall along with blood glucose and this results in the hormone glucagon being released by the alpha cells of the pancreas.

The role of glucagon – Glucagon has the opposite effect to insulin in that it increases blood-glucose levels and promotes processes that spare glucose utilisation.

Glucagon works primarily on the hepatocytes in the liver to:

– Convert stored glycogen into glucose and release it into the blood

– Promote gluconeogenesis, the manufacture of new glucose from lactic acid and other metabolites.

Glucagon binds to glucagon receptors, which are part of the G-protein-coupled receptor family. This stimulates a series of linked enzyme reactions, resulting in the activation of glycogen phosphorylase, the enzyme responsible for the mobilisation of glycogen reserves into free glucose. Glucagon release is inhibited by both insulin and somatostatin.

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Other Hormones That Are Involved In The Regulation Of Blood Glucose

Like most of the physiological processes, the regulation of blood glucose is complex and there are many other hormones beside insulin and glucagon that play an important function, such as somatostatin.

The role of somatostatin – This is released by the delta cells located in the pancreatic islets in response to a post-prandial increase in blood glucose and amino acids. It reduces gut motility and the further absorption of nutrients as well as inhibiting pancreatic exocrine secretions.

The function of gastrin and cholecystokinin – The gastrointestinal tract also releases hormones such as gastrin and cholecystokinin that stimulate the pancreas to secrete insulin in anticipation of the absorption of nutrients.

The role of stress hormones – When a person is experiencing stress, neuro-endocrine mechanisms cause the release of stress hormones such as adrenaline . These increase blood-glucose levels by mobilising glycogen and suppressing the release of insulin.

Other hormones such as amylin and pancreatic polypeptide are involved in glucose regulation but their roles are less well understood.

A summary of the principal hormones involved in glucose regulation is presented in Table 1.

Keeping Pancreatic Hormones In Balance

Insulin

Insulin is released from the pancreas when blood sugar levels rise after a meal. Insulin causes glucose to move out of the blood into cells of the body, resulting in a fall in blood sugar levels. When blood sugar levels return to normal, the pancreas stops making insulin.

Glucagon

Glucagon is released from the pancreas when blood sugar levels fall too low. When blood sugar levels return to normal, the pancreas stops making glucagon. Glucagon is also released in response to adrenaline.

Somatostatin

Somatostatin blocks the production of insulin and glucagon to help regulate blood sugar levels. Somatostatin increases when either glucagon or insulin levels get too high.

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You Say Sugar I Say Glucose

Glucose

Sucrose

Fructose

Is sugar in a doughnut the same as blood sugar? Lets clear up the confusion: Sugar can have many different names, with different meanings.

When doctors and scientists talk about sugar in the blood, they often use the word glucose. Glucose is a simple carbohydrate, also known as a monosaccharide . This can also be called blood sugar.

Unlike sucrose or fructose , you wont be able to find glucose in the grocery store.

The Endocrine Cells Of The Pancreas

Groups of endocrine cells are found throughout the pancreas. They are called islets of Langerhans because they are scattered like small islands and were discovered by the pathologist Paul Langerhans. These groups of cells produce insulin, glucagon and other hormones. They are called endocrine cells because the hormones that they produce are secreted directly into the blood. These hormones usually help to regulate blood sugar levels, stopping them from getting too high or too low.

When the blood sugar levels rise, as they do after a meal, insulin is released by the islets of Langerhans. This hormone helps sugar to be absorbed from the bloodstream into the cells of the body. Insulin also allows the liver and the muscles to store sugar, as well as keeping the liver from producing more sugar. This lowers your blood sugar levels.

When blood sugar levels are too low, the pancreas releases glucagon into the bloodstream. This hormone does the opposite of what insulin does: It causes the liver cells to release stored sugar. It also makes sure that proteins in the liver are turned into sugar that can then be used for energy. If the blood sugar levels rise, the release of glucagon is stopped.

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How To Use Blood Sugar Blaster

Blood Sugar Blaster pills contain 20 different unique and potent ingredients. These ingredients will boost your immune system and protect you from fatal diseases. You must take at least two pills each day with a glass of water-one in the morning before breakfast and one after dinner. After a few weeks, you will notice that your blood sugar levels have gone down to a normal state, and the fat-burning capabilities of this pill will help you lose extra weight very quickly. You must be cautious about overdosing. Dont take more than two capsules each day.

Genes To Regulate Blood Glucose Levels

Genetics is identifying a whole new set of genes, proteins and pathways that are related to diabetes and blood sugar control. Till now, scientist have identified a genetic disorder in MafA . Surprisingly, this genetic defect was present in an unrelated family along with diabetic and insulinoma family members. The link of this gene with a defect was detected for the first time and a stable resultant mutant protein was found with a longer life in the cell, and found to be significantly more abundant in -cells than its normal version .

Gene on chromosome-2 is linked with fasting glucose levels and is primarily expressed in pancreatic -cells to convert glucose-6-phosphate back to glucose. Its genetic variation may be responsible for reduction in insulin secretion that increases glucose concentration. Chronically elevated levels of glucose may be a precursor for type 2 diabetes .

13 new genetic variants has been discovered by an international research consortium and these variants can manipulate blood glucose regulation, insulin resistance and function of insulin-secreting -cells in European descent populations, in which 05 of the following newly discovered variants raised the risk of developing type 2 diabetes:

SNPs in the region of ADCY5 which influence fasting and postprandial glucose levels.

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Blood Sugar Blaster Benefits

Blood Sugar Blaster formula has a lot of health benefits. It is not possible to include all of them here, so instead, we will focus on the key benefits of the supplement.

• Blood Sugar Blaster can reverse type-2 diabetes.
• It can melt toxic fat from every corner of the body. So it can be used as a weight-loss supplement as well.
• It prevents cardiovascular diseases, reducing the chance of heart attacks and strokes.
• Reduces the harmful cholesterol levels.
• It helps the pancreas to produce more insulin, which helps to lower the high blood sugar levels.
• It helps to reduce insulin resistance.
• It burns the fat to produce more energy for the body.
• It burns the fat inside the arteries, which improves blood flow. So the high blood pressure levels drop to a normal state.
• It improves the nervous system.
• It prevents common diseases.

Blood Sugar Blaster Review How Does Blood Sugar Blaster Work

Diabetes is one of the worst diseases known to humankind. Diabetes can be tough to deal with because modern medicine and treatments cant cure it. When your blood sugar level gets abnormally high, you will develop type-2 diabetes. According to most doctors, that is the case, but more factors lead to type-2 diabetes that everyone overlooks. In thisBlood Sugar Blaster review, we will reveal such a blood sugar supplement that is known to be one of the best kinds in treating diabetes and glucose levels.

Over 30 million Americans have diabetes, and diabetes patients can easily cross the 100 million mark globally. The scary part is the number of diabetic patients is increasing daily. The big pharma only saw this as a business. They intentionally designed their drugs to control diabetes instead of curing it, so patients will have to keep buying these drugs from them. As a result, 1.5 million people die each year because of diabetes. The available medicines, treatments and insulin shots only make diabetes worse because these meds contain harmful toxic components. The side effects are severe.

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How To Strengthen Your Pancreas Improve Digestion And Lower Blood Sugar All By Yourself

Why strengthen your pancreas? Because it produces hormones vital to your ability to digest food and assimilate carbs and fats. Moreover, about 74% of us have problems with digestion and gut health, and nearly 40% experience damaging elevated blood sugar. How about you?

ABOUT A month ago I wrote about one of the most important organs in our endocrine system, the adrenals. In that article, I showed readers how they can heal their adrenals. According to Adrenal experts Dr. Michael Lam and Dr. Josh Axe, 50 to 80% of the U.S. population have adrenal issues, which is precisely why I wrote about it adrenal fatigue affects a lot of people and there are specific things you can do to heal them.

Today, its time to take a look at another very important endocrine organ, the pancreas. If your pancreas is not healthy, you could be experiencing a host of unsavory health issues that may be categorized into two buckets: digestion and blood sugar, both of which become compromised as we age.

In this article, youll discover:

• What the pancreas does and why its so important
• How the pancreas affects digestion and gut health
• How the pancreas affects insulin and blood sugar
• What are the symptoms of a compromised pancreas and
• What tests to take, food to eat and supplements to use.

Pathways Involved To Regulate Blood Glucose Levels In Normal And Abnormal Conditions

Pancreas maintains blood glucose levels within a very narrow range through glucagon and insulin by their opposing and balanced actions by the phenomenon of glucose homeostasis. During sleep/between meals/when blood glucose levels are low/during prolonged fasting, -cells release glucagon and promote hepatic glycogenolysis. Along with this, glucagon do hepatic and renal gluconeogenesis and increase endogenous blood glucose levels. In elevated exogenous glucose levels, after a meal, insulin secretion is stimulated from -cells and after docking to its receptor on muscle and adipose tissue, insulin enables insulin-dependent uptake of glucose into tissues and lowers blood glucose levels by removing the exogenous glucose from the blood stream . Moreover insulin enhances glycogenesis, lipogenesis and incorporation of amino acids into proteins thus it performs its anabolic action as compared to glucagon which is catabolic. Along with pancreas, other organs also regulate blood glucose levels .

Figure 2.

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The Role Of The Pancreas In The Body

The pancreas plays a part in two different organ systems, the endocrine system and the exocrine system.

The endocrine system includes all the organs which produce hormones, chemicals which are delivered via the blood to help regulate our mood, growth, metabolism and reproduction.

Two of the hormones produced by the pancreas are insulin and glucagon

The exocrine system is made up of a number of glands which release substances such as sweat , saliva or, in the case of the pancreas, digestive enzymes

Understanding The Endocrine System: How Does The Pancreas Work

It’s easiest to understand endocrine regulation through an example. Imagine you’ve just eaten an apple. By eating the apple, you’ve unknowingly caused huge physiological changes in your body. For instance, digesting the sugars from the fruit increases your body’s level of glucose, a sugar molecule that provides quick energy for cells.Although glucose is useful, too much is harmful. Hyperglycemia, or an abnormally high concentration of glucose in the blood, causes symptoms ranging from thirst and vomiting to coma and death if left untreated. To prevent these outcomes, your body needs to store any glucose that isn’t used immediately as a longer-term form of energy. That’s where the pancreas comes in.The pancreas senses when there is extra glucose in the blood and releases insulin, a hormone that helps cells either use up or store the energy from the apple. Once the body has extracted all the energy possible, blood glucose levels decrease, signaling the pancreas to stop releasing so much insulin. This cycle plays out every time we eat, keeping our body properly fueled.For people with diabetes, however, this key regulatory process doesn’t work as it should.

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How Is Blood Glucose Maintained In The Body

The control of blood glucose levels is an example of homeostasis. The human body requires glucose for normal respiration of cells, but the blood levels is in a narrow range. Insulin and glucagon are hormones released from the pancreas into the blood stream. They are called endocrine hormones, because they are in the blood stream . How Insulin Controls Blood Glucose Insulin is secreted from the islet cells in the pancreas – in beta cells. HIGH blood glucose stimulates the release of insulin. There is a low level of insulin secreted by the pancreas, but in high glucose levels, more insulin is released into the blood stream. LOW blood glucose results in less secretion of insulin. In HIGH blood glucose, insulin in the blood stream causes glucose to enter cells resulting in a net reduction in blood glucose – into the normal range. In LOW blood glucose, more glucagon is released. The Effect of Glucagon On Blood Glucose Glucagon is also released by the pancreas, but it acts on liver cells to release glucose contained in glycogen molecules – this is called glycogenolysis . Glucagon can also stimualte the liver to produce glucose out of other nutrients in the body, like proteins. If glucose levels are too low then glucagon is released, which results in an increase in blood glucose back to the normal range.Continue reading > >

• The Effects of Diabetes on Your Body

The Exocrine Cells Of The Pancreas

The exocrine cells produce digestive juices about 1.5 to 2 liters per day. They are called exocrine because the digestive juices that they produce flow out into the small intestine rather than directly into the bloodstream. This clear, colorless fluid is mainly made up of water and also contains salt, sodium bicarbonate and digestive enzymes. There are three main types of enzymes:

• Lipases to break down fats
• Proteases to break down proteins
• Amylases to break down carbohydrates

The digestive juices that are made in the pancreas flow into the small intestine through a tube known as the pancreatic duct. In most people, this duct is joined by a similar duct coming from the gallbladder before it reaches the small intestine. There is a circular muscle at the shared opening of the two ducts. This muscle controls the release of the digestive juices into the small intestine.

The digestive juices usually only start working once they enter the small intestine. But if the pancreas is inflamed , they already become active in the pancreas. As a result, the pancreas starts digesting itself.

Pancreas and surrounding organs

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The Insulin Secretion Signaling Pathway

Endocrine cells secrete their respective hormones in response to external signals, such as nutrient intake or stress, via humoral, neural or hormonal signaling pathways. The underlying molecular process that translates the stimulus into the actual hormone release is called stimulus-secretion coupling which is known as the stimulus-dependent exocytosis of a particular substance, such as glucose-stimulated -cell insulin release.

Glucose-stimulated insulin release from a pancreatic -cell. Exogenous glucose is taken up by GLUT2 and undergoes glycolysis inside the cell. Elevated adenosine triphosphate levels alter the ATP/ADP ratio, which in turn leads to the closure of ATP-sensitive K+-channels. The subsequent membrane depolarization opens voltage-dependent Ca2+-channels in response to increasing intracellular calcium levels, which eventually trigger insulin secretion following vesicle fusion with the membrane.