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Control of Blood Glucose Levels Homeostasis is the mechanism for keeping your internal conditions constant. Homeostatic control of blood glucose can be made using insulin. It decreases blood sugar concentration making it about 80 - 120 mg of glucose per 100 ml of blood during fasting Insulin is the only hormone that decreases blood sugar level. The presence of insulin causes a cells membrane to be more permeable to glucose; this causes blood sugar level to drop in the blood. Homeostatic control of glucose in blood is also held through glucagon produced by alpha cells in the islets of Langerhans in the pancreas. Glucagon increases blood sugar concentration.
Insulin and glucagon are antagonists; insulin decreases blood sugar level and glucagon increases blood sugar level. Glucocorticoids and growth hormone can also increase blood sugar level. In the past, people have not explored these [methods] because we did not have the technology to detect the small quantities that go through the skin, says chemist Luis A. Colon. He and his colleagues are currently developing an extremely sensitive measure.
The scientists collected glucose samples from volunteers by attaching a small cup of water to the skin for 5 minutes. Next, they added an enzyme that changes glucose into hydrogen peroxide. Then, they allowed the hydrogen peroxide to react with homo vanillic acid to form a fluorescent compound. The intensity of the fluorescence indicates the glucose concentration in the solution. The amounts of glucose in the water samples do not correlate directly with those detected in the volunteers' blood, but the samples do seem to reflect changes in glucose concentration, says Colon. After the volunteers swallowed glucose tablets, the concentration increased in both their blood and skin.
The scientists also collected samples by using a method that places an electric voltage across the skin to enhance the flow of fluids. However, this causes irritation, so the team has focused on the passive collection method. Eventually, Colon and his group would like to develop a small sensor that could be attached to the skin to provide a continuous glucose readout. They were also testing other bodily fluids, such as tears and saliva, that could be collected painlessly and might contain valuable biochemical information. Abnormal blood glucose level is an inherited condition caused by a defect or defects in the gene that codes for the enzyme, glucose- 6 -phosphate dehydrogenase (G 6 PD). It can cause hemolytic anemia, varying in severity from life-long anemia, to rare bouts of anemia to total unawareness of the condition.
The episodes of hemolytic anemia are usually triggered by oxidants, infection, or by eating fava beans. The most significant consequence of abnormal blood glucose level is hemolytic anemia, which is usually episodic, but the vast majority of people with this deficiency have no symptoms. The many different forms of abnormal blood glucose level have been divided into five classes according to severity. The major symptoms of hemolytic anemia are jaundice, dark urine, abdominal pain, back pain, lowered red blood cell count, and elevated bilirubin. People who suffer from severe and chronic forms of this deficiency in addition may have gallstones, enlarged spleens, defective white blood cells, and cataracts. Attacks of hemolytic anemia are serious for infants.
Brain damage and death are possible but preventable outcomes. Newborns with deficient blood glucose level are about 1. 5 times as likely to get neonatal jaundice than newborns without this deficiency. In a typical attack of hemolytic anemia, no treatment is needed; the patient will recover in about eight days. However, blood transfusions are necessary in severe cases. Recent success treating elevated bilirubin in newborns by exposing them to bright light has decreased the need for neonatal transfusions.
Many people with diabetes have to puncture their skin with a needle several times a day to control the glucose level of their blood. That is an uncomfortable, inconvenient procedure. Now, researchers at the State University of New York at Buffalo have found that it may be possible to monitor glucose without drawing blood. They simply collect and measure the glucose that diffuses naturally through the skin. Blood glucose levels were measured using glucose oxidase. Plasma concentrations of FFAs (intra- and inter assay coefficients of variation [CVs] 4. 3 and 5. 7 %), glycerol (CVs 2. 0 and 3. 4 %), and lactate (CVs 3. 3 %) were determined by enzymatic methods.
Plasma insulin C-peptide, glucagons, and growth hormone were measured by radioimmunoassay (RIA). Plasma cortisol was determined after extraction and charcoal-dextran separation by RIA. Enrichment's of [sup. 2 ]H in hydrogen's bound to carbon 2 (C 2), C 5, and C 6 of blood glucose were determined using gas chromatography-mass spectrometry by isolating the hydrogen's in formaldehyde derivatives to hexamethylenetetramine (HMT). Briefly, blood was diluted with an equal volume of water, deproteinized with Zn, and deionized, and the glucose was isolated by high-performance liquid chromatography. To estimate fractional Gluconeogenesis (GNG), aliquots of glucose were converted to arabi tol- 5 -phosphate and ribton- 5 -phosphate and to xylose, which were oxidized with periodate to yield formaldehyde containing C 2 or C 5 of glucose, respectively, with their hydrogen's.
Each formaldehyde was condensed with ammonia to form HMT. The Hmt's were assayed for [sup. 2 ]H enrichment's by mass spectrometry, mass 141 for the enrichment of the hydrogen at carbons C 2 and C 5 and mass 142 for those at C 6. Enrichment's in plasma water were determined by Metabolic Solutions (Merrimack, NH) using an isotope ratio mass spectrometer. The professionals conclude that homeostatic controlling blood glucose level is associated with better control of diabetes. Also, by controlling blood glucose levels with supplemental oral glucose or extra insulin, children and teenagers can minimize the episodes of both hypoglycemia and hyperglycemia that can impair judgment and learning and lead to coma, convulsions, recurrent keto acidosis, and the long-term micro circulatory and neuropathic complications of this disease. The Insulin Dosage Guide was designed especially for correction of abnormal blood glucose levels, but not for alteration of the base dose of insulin.
In this center, people can learn how to control glucose blood level and get other valuable information. Words: 977 Bibliography: Kate AJ, et al. Self-monitoring of blood glucose levels and glycemic control: the Northern California Kaiser Permanente Diabetes Registry. Am J Med July 2001; 111: 1 - 9.
UK Prospective Diabetes Study (UKPDS) Group: Effect of intensive blood glucose control with metformin on complications in overweight patients with type 2 diabetes (UKPDS 34). Lancet 352: 854 - 865, 1998 Willey KA, Molyneaux LM, Yue DK: Obese patients with type 2 diabetes poorly controlled by insulin and metformin: effects of adjunctive dexfenlluramine therapy on glycemic control. Diet Med 11: 701 - 704, 1994 Kelley DE: Effects of weight loss on glucose homeostasis in NIDDM. Diabetes Rev 3: 366 - 377, 1995 Klein R: Hyperglycemia and microvascular and macro vascular disease in diabetes (Review). Diabetes Care 18: 258 - 268, 1995 Colon, Luis A. Self monitoring of blood glucose by people with diabetes: evidence based practice.
BMJ 1997; 314: 964 - 6. Gill GV, Huddle KR. Assessment of glycemic control in the diabetic clinic. Pract Diabetes 1989; 6: 77 - 9. Worth R, Home PD, Johnston DG, Anderson J, Ashworth L, Brain JM, et al.
Intensive attention improves glycemic control in insulin-dependent diabetes without further advantage from home blood glucose monitoring. BMJ 1982; 285: 1233 - 40. Harris MI, Cowie CC, Howie LJ. Self-monitoring of blood glucose by adults with diabetes in the United States population. Diabetes Care 1993; 16: 1116 - 23.
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Research essay sample on Control Of Blood Glucose Levels
