Just What Is Diabetes?

The pancreas islet cells that produce insulin and glucose hormones work together to help regulate the correct levels of blood glucose. When the pancreatic islets cells, alpha (A cells) and beta (B cells) cannot regulate glucose and insulin properly, diabetes forms in the pancreas and other major organ systems. The pancreas is positioned behind the stomach, in the concavity that is produced by the C-shape of the duodenum. The duodenum curves around the head of the pancreas and handles acid from the stomach.

Pancreatic acid is also dumped into the duodenum and eventually exits through the ducts of the duodenum. The duodenum is also responsible for bile and secretions exiting into the duodenum from the liver. Inadequate insulin levels in the pancreas cause a decrease in the body’s ability to regulate blood sugar acidity in glucose, thus a risk factor for diabetes is developed throughout the body.      

Alpha and beta cells are called antagonists, because they work off their levels of hormones against each other, for proper concentrations of insulin and glucose. Insulin decreased and depletes organs from maintaining proper concentrations of glucose levels in the body. The alpha cells are responsible for the production of glucagon, and the beta cells are responsible for the production of insulin. As glucagon accelerates the process of glycogenolysis in the liver, it is then converted to glucose.

Glucagon is responsible for the increase of blood glucose concentrations. Playing a key role in removing the excess glucose from the blood and storing it as glycogen, the liver cells are very important to the proper function of the heart, kidneys and pancreas. Normal homeostasis is the result of the blood leaving the liver, containing normal blood glucose concentrations. Liver malfunction or any disorder of the pancreas can produce diabetic responses in the body.

Insulin is an agent of the blood sugars that is used as a source of energy throughout the body. Although the liver uses insulin for the storage of glycogen, a processed form of glucose, the insulin is the only hormone in the body that can decrease the levels of glucose concentration. Kidneys also need proper organ functions from the liver and pancreas to stay functioning under normal homeostatic conditions.

Urine is processed through the kidneys, and if an accumulation of ketone bodies, forms of acids, form in the kidneys, the results will be diabetic ketoacidosis. Diabetic ketoacidosis is dangerously high acidity in the blood. When insulin decreases in production, as it does with a pancreatic disorder, the cessation of proper hormones used by the body will also result in a form of diabetes.

Diabetes is a pathological condition that results from the imbalance of homeostasis of the body. Any deviance or variation from the normal homeostatic balance of the body signifies a pathological condition, like diabetes. Homeostasis is the body’s way of internally regulating a stable environment. Reaction and interaction of the body’s major organ systems rely on homeostasis for proper function. The key factors that help maintain proper homeostasis include salinity, acidity, concentrations of waste and nutrients and the temperature of the body and its organs.