Related topics: diabetes , type 2 diabetes , insulin resistance , type 1 diabetes
Blood sugar
hideBlood sugar concentration, or glucose level, refers to the amount of glucose present in the blood of a human or animal. Normally, in mammals the blood glucose level is maintained at a reference range between about 3.6 and 5.8 mM (mmol/l). It is tightly regulated as a part of metabolic homeostasis.
Mean normal blood glucose levels in humans are about 90 mg/100ml, equivalent to 5mM (mmol/l) (since the molecular weight of glucose, C6H12O6, is about 180 g/mol). The total amount of glucose normally in circulating human blood is therefore about 3.3 to 7g (assuming an ordinary adult blood volume of 5 litres, plausible for an average adult male). Glucose levels rise after meals for an hour or two by a few grams and are usually lowest in the morning, before the first meal of the day. Transported via the bloodstream from the intestines or liver to body cells, Glucose is the primary source of energy for body's cells, fats and oils (ie, lipids) being primarily a compact energy store.
Failure to maintain blood glucose in the normal range leads to conditions of persistently high (hyperglycemia) or low (hypoglycemia) blood sugar. Diabetes mellitus, characterized by persistent hyperglycemia from any of several causes, is the most prominent disease related to failure of blood sugar regulation.
For more information about Blood sugar, read the full article at
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News tagged with blood sugar
Body's circadian rhythm tightly entwined with blood sugar control
Oct 05, 2009 |
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Scientists have long struggled to understand the body's biological clock. Its tick-tock wakes us up, reminds us to eat and tells us when to go to bed. But what sets that circadian rhythm?
Noninsulin-producing alpha cells in the pancreas can be converted to insulin-producing beta cells
Aug 06, 2009 |
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In findings that add to the prospects of regenerating insulin-producing cells in people with type 1 diabetes, researchers in Europe -- co-funded by the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation -- have shown that insulin-producing ...
Genetic studies reveal new causes of severe obesity in childhood
Dec 06, 2009 |
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Scientists in Cambridge have discovered that the loss of a key segment of DNA can lead to severe childhood obesity. This is the first study to show that this kind of genetic alteration can cause obesity. The results are published ...
Scientists create fruit fly model to help unravel genetics of human diabetes
Nov 02, 2009 |
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As rates of obesity, diabetes, and related disorders have reached epidemic proportions in the US in recent years, scientists are working from many angles to pinpoint the causes and contributing factors involved ...
'Feel-good' hormone serotonin regulates blood sugar concentration
Oct 28, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- Diabetes is the most prevalent metabolic disease in developed countries and one that engenders - in addition to its high fatality - enormous health care costs. The physiological meaning of ...
Study finds best use of insulin as diabetes progresses
Oct 23, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- A large-scale trial in diabetes patients has provided new evidence on how best to add insulin to standard drugs to control blood sugar levels as type 2 diabetes progresses.
'Micro shuttle' drug delivery could mean an end to regular dosing
Nanotechnology / Bio & Medicine
Oct 02, 2009 |
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Scientists working at Queen Mary, University of London, have developed micrometer-sized capsules to safely deliver drugs inside living cells.
Treating even mild gestational diabetes reduces birth complications (w/ Video)
Sep 30, 2009 |
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Treating pregnant women for mild gestational diabetes resulted in fewer cesarean sections and other serious birthing problems associated with larger than average babies, according to a study conducted in part at the University ...
Triple heart threat cuts decade off lifespan: study
Sep 17, 2009 |
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Middle-aged male smokers with high cholesterol and blood pressure die, on average, a decade sooner than peers without any of these heart disease risk factors, according to a study published Friday.
More insulin-producing cells, at the flip of a 'switch'
Aug 06, 2009 |
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Researchers have found a way in mice to convert another type of pancreas cell into the critical insulin-producing beta cells that are lost in those with type I diabetes. The secret ingredient is a single transcription factor, ...
Gut hormone has 'remote control' on blood sugar
Aug 05, 2009 |
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A gut hormone first described in 1928 plays an unanticipated and important role in the remote control of blood sugar production in the liver, according to a report in the August 6th Cell Metabolism, a Cell Press publication. What's ...
'Jumping gene' diminishes the effect of a new type 2 diabetes risk gene
Jul 03, 2009 |
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Research led by the German Institute of Human Nutrition (DIfE) has identified a new gene associated with diabetes, together with a mechanism that makes obese mice less susceptible to diabetes.
The battle for CRTC2: How obesity increases the risk for diabetes
Jun 21, 2009 |
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Obesity is probably the most important factor in the development of insulin resistance, but science's understanding of the chain of events is still spotty. Now, researchers at the Salk Institute for Biological ...
Stopping diabetes damage with vitamin C
Jun 09, 2009 |
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Researchers at the Harold Hamm Oklahoma Diabetes Center have found a way to stop the damage caused by Type 1 diabetes with the combination of insulin and a common vitamin found in most medicine cabinets.
Could standard treatment for traumatic brain injury be wrong?
Medicine & Health / Neuroscience
Jun 03, 2009 |
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Traumatic brain injury — not heart disease, stroke or cancer — is the number one cause of death and disability in people under 45. Each year, some 1.5 million Americans, including soldiers, athletes, the elderly and children, ...
