Controlling Blood Glucose

• Blood glucose concentration is the amount of sugar in our bloodstream, which needs to be kept in a certain range for our cells to function properly.
• Excessively high blood glucose levels can damage tissues and lead to health complications, while low blood glucose levels can cause symptoms such as dizziness and confusion.
• The hormones insulin and glucagon work together to control blood glucose concentration, with insulin decreasing blood glucose levels and glucagon increasing them.
• Insulin is released from the pancreas in response to a rise in blood glucose levels, binding to receptors on certain cells to tell them to take in some of the glucose floating around in the blood.
• Glucagon is also released from the pancreas, but it increases blood glucose levels instead of decreasing them.
• Glucagon is released when blood glucose levels drop too low, binding to liver cells to break down glycogen into glucose molecules and release them into the blood, bringing the blood glucose concentration back up to normal.
• Insulin and glucagon create a negative feedback loop, where glucose levels get too high then insulin is released which causes the glucose to drop down again but if it drops too low then glucagon is released which causes the glucose levels to increase again.
• Our bodies constantly release insulin and glucagon to ensure that the amount of glucose in our bloodstream is always kept around the right levels, which is why our blood glucose concentration constantly fluctuates rather than being a flat line.