Introducing insulin
Controlling glucose levels
Our bodies control the amount of glucose in our blood by using two teams of hormones.
Hormone teams acting as messengers
- Insulin @iloveinsulin has a social media account and it sends a message to its follower the liver @theliver …

- Glucagon @ihateinsulin has a social media account and it sends a message to its follower the liver @theliver …

- The liver @theliver has a social media account and it sends messages to its followers Insulin @iloveinsulin and Glucagon @ihateinsulin …

These teams act quickly so that we can deal with rapidly changing levels of glucose, such as after a meal.
Why is glucose control important?
The primary diabetes outcome is glycaemic control, as measured by a blood test (glycosylated haemoglobin or HbA1c) that indicates average plasma glucose for the previous 2-3 months.Poor glycaemic control has been related to short-term consequences such as hypoglycaemia and diabetic ketoacidosis (DKA), as well as serious health consequences later in life such as limb amputation, retinopathy, and renal disease.Hyperglycaemia means high blood glucose levels. These are normally defined as those which are persistently above 11.1mmol/L. (200mg/dl). Hypoglycaemia is where blood glucose levels are under 4mmol/L. (72mg/dl).Completion of recommended self-care tasks is considered critical to glycaemic control, with the primary tasks which help to maintain glycaemic control, such as monitoring blood glucose levels, injecting insulin, and dosing insulin according to meter results or other factors, needing to be carried out several times per day, often around mealtimes in varied contexts and locations.Our purpose is to transform access to education.
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