preview

A Study On Type 1 Diabetes

Decent Essays

Type 1 diabetes is a disease that tends to have an early onset in life. For this reason, it has also been called juvenile diabetes. People who have type 1 diabetes produce little to no insulin due to autoimmune destruction of the beta cells in the pancreas. Insulin is a crucial hormone that is secreted directly into the bloodstream and regulates blood glucose (or blood sugar). As with all hormones, insulin works via a negative feedback loop. When glucose levels get too high (typically, after a meal), the beta cells are triggered to release insulin. Insulin then triggers various cells in the body to absorb the glucose. As glucose gets absorbed, blood sugar drops down to a reasonable level. Cells do not absorb glucose solely to lower the glucose levels in the blood. In fact, cells need glucose for energy.
Without insulin, the levels of glucose get too high in the blood, and the cells are unable to utilize it, which means the cells must find a secondary source of energy. In type 1 diabetes since no insulin is produced, if there is no glucose available, cells will start to break down fat for energy. This breakdown causes a by-product called ketones. When ketones are released into the blood, it lowers the PH of the blood in the body making the blood acidotic. This is called diabetic ketoacidosis, and though it is only one of many side effects of uncontrolled type 1 diabetes, this is the most dangerous. Ketoacidosis is characterized by “Blood glucose levels that are greater than

Get Access