4 of 6

Write now Article Tools

Do you know where your Pancreas is? Or what it does?

It sits just behind your stomach and it's job is to make insulin. If your pancreas does not work and does not make insulin then you are a Type 1 Diabetic and have to get your insulin from daily injections or from an insulin pump.

So do you know what insulin does?

When you eat food or drink liquids that contain carbohydrates, your body turns these carbohydrates into glucose. Glucose is very important as it gets stored in your cells and used for energy when you need it. But to get it from your bloodstream to your cells you need insulin. Your pancreas is very clever. It knows how much insulin to release into your bloodstream to get the glucose traveling to the cells.

If you are a Type 1 Diabetic your pancreas will not produce insulin. The glucose will build up in the bloodstream, you will become thirsty, have the need to urinate often and quickly become dehydrated. You will feel tired because you have no energy source. You can eat and eat but your body is starving to death. In a desperate need for energy your body will start burning fat. You will start to lose weight. The burning of the fat will produce a waste product called ketones. Your body will be poisoned by these Ketones. You will begin to vomit and breathing gets faster until you are in a state of hyperventilation. If not treated quickly you will die.

Insulin injections are a lifeline for Type 1 Diabetics. Injections are the easy bit. You also have to calculate how much insulin you are going to need. This is based on the food and drink consumed and the energy used and the energy you think you are going to use. To get your "Diabetes to work" you have to be as clever as a Pancreas.

Learn more about this author, Karen Duthie.
Click here to send this author comments or questions.

Add your voice

Know something about How diabetes 'works'?
We want to hear your view. Write now!