A Teaspoon of Sugar Makes the Body Go Round
By Anthony Robniak, MD
Our blood is rich with a wide variety of cells and molecules. Some of the things that make up our blood are quite complex and difficult to remember. Others are quite familiar. Glucose and insulin are two of the more commonly discussed substances that we need in our blood.
Am I supposed to have sugar in my blood?
In some form, yes. Sugar is a broad term describing a variety of chemicals found within us. Glucose, a specific type of sugar, should exist in our blood. Glucose is used by the cells of the body as fuel, and it helps to facilitate functions from mind to motion. A typical human has about five liters of blood with roughly one gram of sugar in each liter, equaling about five grams or one teaspoon of sugar total in our blood, something to think about next time you reach for your measuring spoons.
How is insulin related to the sugar in my blood?
Insulin, an entirely separate chemical from glucose, is made naturally by the pancreas in our abdomen. Insulin must be present for the sugar to act as fuel. Some people suffer from pancreatic failure, and their pancreas no longer produces insulin. Until about 100 years ago, these people suffered dramatically shortened lifespans. Then insulin was isolated from animal blood and given to them. Nowadays, people who cannot produce insulin on their own receive insulin daily with great improvement in life expectancy.
What happens if someone receives too much insulin?
Too much insulin causes the level of sugar in the blood to decrease. Most of the cells in the body will continue to function without much impairment for quite some time. These cells store sugar for moments like this. However, the cells of the brain and nerves are unique. They cannot store extra glucose for times when the blood runs out, and they require a near constant supply of glucose from the blood. Without a constant flow of glucose, these unique brain and nerve cells begin to function erratically, and people experience this as symptoms like irritability, sweating, confusion, shaking, and dizziness. If blood glucose is not quickly increased by some means, people can fall into a coma, suffer from seizures, and die.
How do we know what happens if someone receives too much insulin?
I wish it were by accident alone. We know this, in part, because large amounts of insulin were used to treat people suffering from schizophrenia for several decades in the mid-20th century. Termed “insulin shock therapy,” it was intended to induce a seizure in patients in hopes of resetting the brain and promoting redevelopment of a healthy mind. However, as research on insulin shock therapy began demonstrating more harm than benefit, the unique therapy was abandoned, a poignant reminder of the importance of medical research.
Anthony Robniak, MD, is a first-year internal medicine resident at UNC Health Southeastern. In addition to offering services you’d expect from a community healthcare system, UNC Health Southeastern provides a number of specialized services that are unique to our system and not available anywhere else in the region. To schedule an appointment, call our referral line at 984-974-CARE. To learn more, visit UNCHealthSE.org.
