What is happening in your body?

Pancreas

Meet your pancreas. Where it all begins. It’s an important gland behind your stomach that releases enzymes to help digest your food. It also produces insulin and glucagon to balance your blood sugar (glucose) levels, allowing your body to use glucose for energy. In Type 1 diabetes (T1D), your pancreas doesn’t make insulin. In Type 2 diabetes (T2D), your pancreas doesn’t make enough insulin, or more commonly, your cells become resistant to insulin.

Brain

Here’s your brain. It’s the boss, in charge of all systems in your body, and uses sugar (glucose) as its energy source. It's your most energy-demanding organ, which means it’s very sensitive to blood sugar levels. Too high or too low blood sugar levels can damage the brain’s blood vessels or deprive it of enough oxygen, leading to all kinds of problems with cognition, memory, learning, moods, anxiety, decision-making, weight, and hormones.

Hot Tip: Take care of your brain

Eat well
Stay fit
Keep blood sugar levels within target range
Take your medications
Don’t stress
If you smoke, quit please!

Insulin

Insulin is the key. It’s a hormone that takes blood sugar (glucose) out of your blood and delivers it into your cells, which turn it into the energy your body needs. Think of insulin as a key unlocking your cells so that glucose can get in and get used. Without insulin, glucose is locked out of your cells. This means your blood sugar levels spike or drop, and even if you’ve just eaten, your cells react like they are starving, which can lead to serious complications.

Tip: Don’t be scared. You can manage diabetes with many types of manufactured insulin.

Pro Tip: An insulin pump automates delivery for optimal dosing. An insulin pen is super convenient. An insulin syringe is widely available. An insulin inhaler is fast-acting.

Glucagon

When blood sugar levels get low, glucagon is a hormone that raises them back to normal. Glucagon stimulates the liver and muscles to convert and release stored glucose back into the blood so that all the cells in the body can use it.

Tip: The more you check your blood glucose levels, the better you’ll be at managing blood glucose levels.

Pro Tip: Use an emergency glucagon kit if your blood sugar drops dangerously low.

Alpha Cells

Alpha cells, clustered in your pancreas, are the ones that produce glucagon, the hormone that raises blood sugar.

Beta Cells

Beta cells, also clustered in your pancreas, are the ones that produce insulin. In T1D, an autoimmune disease, antibodies and T-cells attack and destroy your beta cells so your body can no longer make insulin at all. In T2D, if your cells are insulin resistant, your beta cells need to work overtime to produce enough insulin and eventually can die off from exhaustion.

Blood Glucose

Our blood carries sugar (glucose), which comes from the food we eat and is our body’s main source of energy, to each of our cells. The amount of sugar in our bloodstream is a delicate balance. Without insulin, your body’s cells can’t absorb glucose, which is the fuel that keeps your whole body running, and most importantly your heart, liver, kidneys, and brain.

Hyperglycemia happens when you’ve got too much glucagon and your blood sugar is high.

Watch out for early signs:

Needing to pee a lot
Thirsty
Things are looking blurry
Feeling weak or tired

Hypoglycemia happens when you’ve got too much insulin and your blood sugar is low.

Watch out for early signs:

Looking pale
Feeling shaky or dizzy or lightheaded
Sweating buckets
“I’m hungry!”
“I’m going to throw up”
My heart’s beating faster
Trouble concentrating
No energy
“Boy, am I irritable or anxious”
Headache
Lips, tongue or cheeks are tingling

Liver

When we eat, insulin removes the excess sugar (glucose) from our blood and stores it in our liver. Between meals and as we sleep, our liver releases sugar back into our bloodstream so our body has the energy it needs.

Fat Cells

Diabetic ketoacidosis (DKA) happens when you don’t have enough insulin so your cells can’t use that glucose (sugar) for energy. Your liver starts breaking down fat for energy instead, releasing dangerously high levels of ketones into your bloodstream.