Fast facts about type 1 diabetes
Why is insulin important for our bodies?
Short answer: Insulin is a hormone that helps glucose enter your body's cells. Your cells use glucose for energy. If you have type 1 diabetes, your body no longer makes insulin, or makes only a tiny amount. That's why you must take insulin.
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Insulin is a hormone made in the pancreas, an organ behind the stomach. It is carried around the body in the bloodstream.
Its function is to act as a key, unlocking a
door in each cell, which opens and allows glucose in. Insulin also helps the body store extra fuel as fat.
Not every cell in the body needs insulin to get its glucose. These include the brain, nerve fibers, red blood cells, the retinas, the kidneys, and blood vessels.
The insulin-producing and storing cells are found in groups called islets of Langerhans (named after the German Paul Langerhans, who discovered them at the age of 22) throughout the pancreas.
People with type one diabetes no longer produce insulin, which leads to a dangerous build up of glucose in the blood, plus a build-up of ketones as the body turns to fat to provide energy.
By David Hay Jones