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Daftest question

June_C

June_C

Well-Known Member
Messages
821
Location
West Sussex
Type of diabetes
Prefer not to say
Treatment type
Diet only
Dislikes
Diabetes, know it alls
I was diagnosed a few months ago as T1 and am now on mixed insulin with good bg levels ranging between 5-9mmol. Having not had the chance of going into the science behind diabetes, there's something I don't understand. I know the pancreas and liver work hand in hand, one producing the insulin and the other the glucose in order to keep our bg levels where they should be, but what I don't understand is why, when we inject insulin to replace the pancreas function, doesn't the liver release glucose to counteract the hypos. Forgive me for being thick, I'm sure there's a simple explanation. Please don't blind me with science:)
 
Hirst, if the insulin injections are right then you won't have hypos (or not too many). In practice the liver does dump glucose (well, glycogen) to counteract a hypo. There is a problem if you have been drinking alcohol as the liver gives priority to getting rid of that first.
 
June_C said:
I was diagnosed a few months ago as T1 and am now on mixed insulin with good bg levels ranging between 5-9mmol. Having not had the chance of going into the science behind diabetes, there's something I don't understand. I know the pancreas and liver work hand in hand, one producing the insulin and the other the glucose in order to keep our bg levels where they should be, but what I don't understand is why, when we inject insulin to replace the pancreas function, doesn't the liver release glucose to counteract the hypos. Forgive me for being thick, I'm sure there's a simple explanation. Please don't blind me with science:)
Click to expand...
Hi June - the liver releases glucose to counteract hypos but it's not used to dealing with plummeting lows from injected insulin, so it takes a while for BGs to return, and usually they will go much higher as a result.
 
The flip side to this, is that in T1 diabetics there is poor regulation of the liver's glucose-dumping function. Insulin is needed to suppress the flow of glycogen out of the liver into the bloodstream. This is why if we don't have external insulin (eg basal insulin) our blood sugar rises uncontrollably. This is why, before insulin was isolated, T1 diabetics still died even if they were fed only alcohol and lettuce.
 
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