Diabetes
What Is Glucagon And How Does It Work To Prevent Blood Sugar Level?
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Glucagon is a peptide hormone released by the pancreas that helps in converting glycogen in the liver to glucose. This converted glucose is then emitted into the bloodstream and transported to the cells that are present all over the body so that it can be converted into energy. Lowered level of glucose in our body will put our body in a lethargic state. Glucagon allows the body to help normalize the level of glucose and fat in the body. It takes the support of another hormone called insulin to keep the glucose under control. So, whenever the body needs glucose, it is made available by the pancreas, pushing it to the bloodstream, especially during workout sessions where the body gets active and burns more energy.
After the glucagon is pushed out from the pancreas, it can perform several actions. It supports the liver to split the glucogen into smaller chunks so that it will combine along with the blood in the form of glucose and transport it to all parts of the body. It also activates the conversion process of amino acids into glucose. The glucagon breaks down the number of triglycerides into fatty acids so that the cells can use it for burning fat for energy consumption.
What Is Glucagon And How Does It Work?
First and foremost thing to be noted is that the Islet cells in the pancreas release both the hormones- glucagon and insulin to the bloodstream. It controls and normalizes the situation of high glucose levels and low glucose levels. The pancreas has more clusters of these islet cells which incudes beta cells that release insulin and alpha cells that release glucagon. With the help of insulin, cells use glucose for energy. When the insulin is high, it alarms the liver to convert glucose into glycogen.
Glucagon and liver work together to convert glycogen into glucose. This glucose is what is transported through the blood to all parts of the body for energy.
Glucagon works differently on our bodies. The glucagon level in the blood falls and rises to depend upon the type of meal you eat. Diabetic people will tend to a surge in the blood sugar level when there is glucagon presence.
Glucagon will support the balancing property of our body along with the insulin. When the body drops the level of blood sugar level. That’s when the glucagon steps in to support the body to provide energy to all parts of the body. It is the glucagon that controls the liver from taking decisions. In short, Glucagon prevents any hike of blood sugar level and helps to keep it normal. The loop process goes on until it is very hard to control or care about balancing the blood sugar level.
What does glucagon do?
There will be a direct impact of glucagon on the liver as it manipulates everything to control the blood sugar level, even though the pancreas secretes the hormone. This control is worth it as the blood sugar levels are not reaching a risky level by converting the glycogen that was already stored in the liver to glucose. When the glucose is pushed out into the bloodstream, it is called the glycogenolysis
The next thing we have to consider is the ability of glucagon hormone to stop the liver from consuming any glucose. Thus, more amounts of glucose can enter the bloodstream so that more glucose will be available for burning the energy and everything will be under control. The glucagon leads a process called the gluconeogenesis that explains how glucose production takes place in the amino acids. For all of these processes insulin and glucagon hormones work together to get positive output. The control and consistency of stabilizing the blood sugar level will keep everything move in the right direction. Thus, the insulin takes care of any surge in the glucose level and stops it from complications whereas glucagon prevents the glucose level to drop too dangerously low.
Glucagon product is triggered when protein-rich meals are consumed. This will shoot up the adrenaline level and lowers the blood sugar level.
Potential risks with glucagon function
- Everything is under control until there is any miscalculation of blood sugar activities that happens. When there is a case of abnormality with the glucagon level, it will have an adverse effect on glucose levels. The low level of glucagon is rare and seen among babies
- This low level of glucagon will lead to a lower amount of glucose. At this point, people suffering from low glucagon levels are injected with a dose of glucagon to their bodies. Eating foods that are abundantly rich in carbohydrates will do the trick. You will see a sudden surge in blood glucose levels.
- There is a rare chance for the glucagon to reach a high level although possibilities are never ignored. This is a rare condition that is seen among people who are having a tumor in their pancreas. Thus, people dealing with this tumor are having a hard time dealing with the developed diabetes mellitus. They can also be reducing their weight and also look extremely thin.
To make sure that your blood sugar level is normal it is ideal to check if you have the following symptoms that you deal with.
- Sudden weight loss that has no clues at all
- Wounds that take more time than usual to heal
- Skin dryness or itching on different areas of the body
- More tendency for you to be prone to infections
- Headaches that keep coming regularly
- Fatigue or tiredness
- Out of focus or lack of concentration
- Vision seems to be blurring
- Constipation or diarrhea
- Erectile dysfunctioning
Try to avoid any delay between your meals, eat nutritious food, and follow your diabetes medications to avoid any risk. If you are worried about the low sugar content in your blood, then I recommend you to read through the points that are listed below.
- Feeling dizziness, drowsiness or lightheadedness
- Heartbeats climbing up the hill
- Feeling weak or tired without even doing any normal or heavy work
- Tingling or numbness feeling in your arms, mouth, lips, or legs.
- Hunger with nausea
- You might faint when the blood sugar level is too low
- Your mind will be confused and thinking about anything that isn’t what the matter you are discussing about
- Feeling irritable at times.
Proper exercise, proper diet, quality sleep, and timely medication will keep everything under control. You will be saved from future risk of deteriorating your health. Unleash the good things that can help you come out of the risk zone and live in a risk-free zone that you will never have to worry about.
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