The Connection between Glucose and Insulin Type 2 Diabetes

Welcome to the second article of type 2 Diabetes Pathophysiology. Today we're going to look at something very cool and easy but before that, I want to thank everyone that read the first article and sent messages and you know made me happy to continue in diabetes.

The Connection between Glucose and Insulin Type 2 Diabetes

What we're going to discuss today is the relationship between glucose and insulin now if you go on YouTube and look for insulin you'll have maybe more than a thousand videos on insulin and what most people will tell you is that insulin is the key that unlocks the door for the glucose to get in to get into the cells. But today we will see the real relationship between glucose and insulin. And see who is the boss who is controlling who.

What is Type 2 Diabetes

Type 2 known as T2D so type 2 diabetes is a form of diabetes that is characterized by high blood sugar, insulin resistance, and relative lack of insulin. You can learn more at the type 2 diabetes label.

Let's say this is a blood vessel

I will draw the pancreas it's kind of ugly but... and let's take one beta cell outside.

Stimulate the uptake of glucose, amino acids, fatty acids, etc.

So what everyone knows is that glucose will come into your blood and then the beta cells of the pancreas will produce insulin and insulin will get the glucose into the cells.

But many people do not know how... and it's not like a key that will unlock the door but it's actually something really cool let me tell you inside the cells especially muscle cells and fat cells glucose has its own private jet and we call them glucose transporters they stay inside those cells when insulin binds to the receptor on the cell on the cell's membrane there are some signals inside the cells medical students will understand this.

But for the other people just know that cells communicate they communicate within themselves and they communicate with each other but they don't use Twitter or Facebook they have some signaling pathways.

Increase fat synthesis (and fat storage) and decrease lipolysis

Now this will make these vesicles that have glucose transporters to move to the membrane to get into the cells
the thing is if we stop here then most people are right that insulin will get glucose into the cells but the insulin does not stop their insulin is an anabolic hormone that means it promotes growth insulin will make you bigger by increasing protein synthesis and even take some amino acids into the cells increase protein synthesis... that means you will go from this one to this one insulin can make you bigger insulin can also promote lipogenesis basically storing fat.

Induce glycogen synthesis and decrease gluconeogenesis and glycogenolysis

So insulin can also take you from this one to this one and insulin can also promote the storage of glucose as glycogen and insulin it can also use other pathways like MAP kinase to promote proliferation it means a quick division of cells.

For example:

You have one cell they quickly divide into two quickly into four eight and the list goes on you see a lot of people saying that insulin can promote cancer... if something can help them divide obviously you know what's going to happen right.

Increase DNA replication

And insulin can also do other things cancer cells are not supposed to survive because all the cells in your body
have something in them that if something goes wrong with the cell they will kill themselves this is beautiful you know they sacrifice themselves for the body.

But insulin can also stop some of that can also stop apoptosis which if it happens to be a cancer cell you know.

But these things we're not going to discuss here so insulin can make the glucose get into the cells and can make the cells use the glucose or store the glucose as glycogen or as fat and insulin can also make the cells take amino acids and fatty acids.

For example:

That's why those patients that have a lot of insulin in their blood are normally obese or fat because insulin can make you fat can make you bigger can make you grow can make your cells stop dying even if there's something wrong with them.

And can make your cells divide quicker and become larger and many so this is clear.

But then who makes insulin come from beta cells this is the important question because if the beta cells just release insulin for no reason then we can blame the beta cells and say why are you releasing all this insulin if you know they would make us fat.

But actually, beta cells do not release insulin by themselves on the surface of beta cells there are some private jets glucose transporters on this one we call them glucose transporter 4 and they are inside the cells when insulin binds to receptors they are moved to the membrane but for the beta cells, they are there already glucose transporters 2.

Increase potassium uptake

So when the glucose goes up after you eat glucose will just get in for free now here glucose will go into glycolysis and through a lot of steps just know that at the end there will be producing energy in the form of ATP and this ATP see what they will do on the surface of the beta cells there are also some channels called potassium channels and these channels normally allow potassium which is positive to go outside of the cells so that the cells can cool down but this ATP will block this channel.

So the potassium will not go outside and the cells will get more positive now there is another channel... the last one... calcium channel... these calcium channels they're voltage-sensitive when the cells get hot they will open and a lot of calcium will get in... a lot of calcium will get in.

And this will link the insulin which was already here to the membrane this is what the calcium would do then the insulin will get released into the blood so what did we see here that insulin can promote growth can promote proliferation can promote a lot of stuff.

But glucose is the one that gives orders to the better cells to release insulin because when glucose gets in everything else that happens is automatic so at the end of the day who is making you fat now write your comments down and tell me who is making you fat the insulin that promotes all this or the glucose that is making the insulin promote all this that's why sometimes after church we go somewhere to eat with friends and I don't drink any sugary drinks they keep asking me " why why why " and sometimes when I don't go they say ok he's not here today.

So we can enjoy our drinks but the thing is I can't because I know that those things are high in sugar they will get into my blood they will go into my pancreas and they will force my pancreas to release insulin will get the glucose into the cells and amino acids into the cells fatty acid into the cells and will promote storage of fat here and here and here and here and apart from that these pathways can also stop the use of any storage that you have it doesn't matter if it's glycogen it doesn't matter if it's fat.

Increase protein synthesis and decrease the breakdown of protein

If you have fat stored here insulin will stop the breakdown of those fat so you will stay fat and then it will make the cells put some more fat with this understanding if you give sugar drinks to your children do you love them or you hate them I know this is a deep question but just write them down I want to see them.

Anyway if you do it once in a while it's okay but if you do it often just know what you're doing to yourself just go to your calendar and start cutting days say okay today, hmm I made my life shorter by five days and tomorrow - one day - ten just keep doing that every time you drink those stuff you know why I enjoy these things because before I got into the medical school I was very afraid of diabetes because in my family a lot of people have diabetes and some have died with diabetes.

So it was something that I always had inside I knew that this was something that you know we were supposed to go through but after understanding what's really going on I can tell you confidently that I would not have type-2 diabetes because this thing is easy to fix so if you like this video can give your thumbs up and subscribe and allow the notification so that when I release the next one you will know... be blessed... bye.