Frontpage » Tag » insulin

News tagged with insulin

Treatment of sleep apnea improves glucose levels in prediabetes

Optimal treatment of sleep apnea in patients with prediabetes improves blood sugar (glucose) levels and thus can reduce cardiometabolic risk, according to a study to be presented at the ATS 2013 International Conference in ...

Sleep apnea created May 20, 2013 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0 | with audio podcast

Free fatty acids linked to cardiac risk in late adulthood

(HealthDay)—Blood levels of free fatty acids are associated with insulin resistance during young adulthood and cardiovascular risk factors in later adulthood, according to a study published online May 13 ...

Cardiology created May 17, 2013 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0 | with audio podcast

DNA variant affects diabetes risk and treatment response

A DNA variant near a digestive enzyme does not only affect risk of developing diabetes but also affects the response to treatment, an international consortium of researchers including the University of Dundee has found.

Diabetes created May 17, 2013 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0 | with audio podcast

The artificial pancreas that keeps tabs on sugar

(Medical Xpress)—Development of a sophisticated artificial pancreas holds potential to transform the lives of patients with Type 1 diabetes.

Diabetes created May 16, 2013 | popularity 5 / 5 (1) | comments 0 | with audio podcast

Study findings significant for treating infections in Type 1 diabetes

A small University at Buffalo study has found for the first time that in Type 1 diabetics, insulin injections exert a strong anti-inflammatory effect at the cellular and molecular level, while even small amounts of glucose ...

Diabetes created May 16, 2013 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0

Novel study reports marijuana users have better blood sugar control

Regular marijuana use is associated with favorable indices related to diabetic control, say investigators. They found that current marijuana users had significantly lower fasting insulin and were less likely to be insulin ...

Health created May 15, 2013 | popularity 5 / 5 (2) | comments 1

Hospital hypoglycemia rates up in black men with diabetes

(HealthDay)—Home diabetes regimens partially explain the increased risk of having a hypoglycemia event during hospitalization among older African-American men with diabetes, according to a study published ...

Diabetes created May 14, 2013 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0

Gut microbe battles obesity

(Medical Xpress)—Akkermansia muciniphila is one of the many microbes that live in our intestines. This bacterium, which feeds on the intestine's mucus lining, comprises between 3 and 5 percent of the gut microbes of hea ...

Medical research created May 14, 2013 | popularity 4.8 / 5 (11) | comments 0 | with audio podcast report

Explainer: What is diabetes?

To keep your body functioning, glucose must always be present in your blood. It's as important as oxygen in the air you breathe. The brain can only function for a few minutes without either before it stops ...

Diabetes created May 13, 2013 | popularity 5 / 5 (1) | comments 0

Title V coverage varies across states for diabetes

(HealthDay)—There is significant state by state variation in Title V medical coverage for children with diabetes, according to a study published in the April issue of The Journal of Pediatrics.

Pediatrics created May 10, 2013 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0

Air pollution increases risk of insulin resistance in children

New research shows that growing up in areas where air pollution is increased raises the risk of insulin resistance (the prescursor to diabetes) in children. The research is published in Diabetologia, the journal of the Eu ...

Diabetes created May 09, 2013 | popularity not rated yet | comments 1

Cases question diagnostic criteria for inherited diabetes

(HealthDay)—Two patients diagnosed with a genetic form of non-insulin-dependent diabetes developed diabetic ketoacidosis years later, even though a history of diabetic ketoacidosis is normally an exclusion ...

Diabetes created May 09, 2013 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0

New method improves ability to continuously measure glucose in diabetic patients

Researchers at the Universitat Politècnica de València and the Universitat de Girona have developed a new method for continuous glucose monitoring in patients with type 1 diabetes. It is based on a new calibration algorithm ...

Diabetes created May 08, 2013 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0

Discovery of new hormone opens doors to new type 2 diabetes treatments

Harvard School of Public Health (HSPH) researchers have discovered that a particular type of protein (hormone) found in fat cells helps regulate how glucose (blood sugar) is controlled and metabolized (used for energy) in ...

Diabetes created May 07, 2013 | popularity 4.6 / 5 (8) | comments 1 | with audio podcast

Injecting insulin through clothes may contribute to infection

(HealthDay)—Insulin injections have been associated with non-tuberculous mycobacteria cutaneous infections and cutaneous mycobacteria may have a prolonged incubation period, according to a literature review ...

Diabetes created May 05, 2013 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0

Insulin

More reference expression data

Insulin is a hormone that has extensive effects on metabolism and other body functions, such as vascular compliance. Insulin causes cells in the liver, muscle, and fat tissue to take up glucose from the blood, storing it as glycogen in the liver and muscle, and stopping use of fat as an energy source. When insulin is absent (or low), glucose is not taken up by body cells, and the body begins to use fat as an energy source, for example, by transfer of lipids from adipose tissue to the liver for mobilization as an energy source. As its level is a central metabolic control mechanism, its status is also used as a control signal to other body systems (such as amino acid uptake by body cells). It has several other anabolic effects throughout the body. When control of insulin levels fails, diabetes mellitus results.

Insulin is used medically to treat some forms of diabetes mellitus. Patients with Type 1 diabetes mellitus depend on external insulin (most commonly injected subcutaneously) for their survival because the hormone is no longer produced internally. Patients with Type 2 diabetes mellitus are insulin resistant, and because of such resistance, may suffer from a relative insulin deficiency. Some patients with Type 2 diabetes may eventually require insulin when other medications fail to control blood glucose levels adequately.

Insulin is a peptide hormone composed of 51 amino acids and has a molecular weight of 5808 Da. It is produced in the islets of Langerhans in the pancreas. The name comes from the Latin insula for "island".

Insulin's structure varies slightly between species of animal. Insulin from animal sources differs somewhat in 'strength' (in carbohydrate metabolism control effects) in humans because of those variations. Porcine (pig) insulin is especially close to the human version.

For more information about Insulin, read the full article at Wikipedia.
This text uses material from Wikipedia and is available under the GNU Free Documentation License.