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The Role of Insulin In Your Body
Insulin is one of the most important chemicals your body produces. Thanks to insulin, your body can complete many essential functions.
If your body doesn’t produce enough effective insulin, you’re at high risk of developing type 2 diabetes. Diabetes specialist Thomas Nguyen, MD, of Nguyen Medical Group in Boynton Beach, Florida, explains the role of insulin in your body and treatment for insulin resistance.
What is insulin?
Insulin is a chemical your body makes that sends messages to cells. It’s created by your pancreas using islets, which are small groups of pancreatic cells.
Your pancreas produces insulin based on the amount of glucose, or sugar, in your body. The more glucose you have, the more insulin your pancreas needs to produce.
When working effectively, insulin keeps sugar levels balanced in the body, making it easier for the body to use energy more effectively.
Insulin also plays a role in:
- Breaking down protein and fat to use as energy
- Enzyme modification
- Turning fats into triglycerides
- Rebuilding muscle
Insulin can even help you develop a sharper memory and make learning easier.
Insulin imbalances that can occur
If your body isn’t creating insulin properly, these essential functions get thrown out of balance. This can happen if your body can’t produce insulin, produces insufficient insulin, or is ineffective.
Without effective insulin production, you’re likely to develop hyperglycemia, a condition with too high blood sugar. People with hyperglycemia often develop diabetes.
There are two types of diabetes: type 1 and type 2. Type 1 diabetes results from the inability to produce insulin, while type 2 diabetes results from ineffective insulin production. You’re more likely to have type 1 diabetes from a young age, while type 2 diabetes usually occurs at age 40 and up.
Symptoms of diabetes
Several symptoms could indicate you have diabetes. They include:
- Elevated levels of thirst and hunger
- Urinating more, especially at night
- Blurry vision
- Tingly or numb hands and feet
- Increased fatigue
- Dryer skin
- Slow-healing wounds or sores
If you have any symptoms, our team can perform testing to confirm your diagnosis.
Treating insulin imbalances
If you have type 1 or type 2 diabetes, treatment rebalances your insulin levels and keeps you healthy. Without effective treatment, you can experience serious side effects.
The type of treatment you get for diabetes depends on the form you have. If you have type 1 diabetes, you need to take insulin regularly to replace the insulin your body isn’t producing.
If you have type 2 diabetes or gestational diabetes, a type of diabetes that affects pregnant women, you might need insulin as part of your treatment. However, people with these types of diabetes can often control their condition with lifestyle changes alone.
Our team at Ngyuen Medical Group specializes in treating chronic conditions, including all forms of diabetes. If you need a diagnosis or treatment for diabetes, contact us to make an appointment.
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