How Insulin Works

Transcript

If your body does not produce enough insulin, or your body doesn’t use the insulin it does produce, your diabetes care team may recommend you use insulin as a part of your plan to manage your diabetes.

Having to take insulin doesn’t mean your diabetes has gotten worse. And it doesn’t mean your diabetes is more serious than the diabetes of someone who takes pills, or of someone who takes no medication at all.

It just means you need insulin to help keep your blood glucose in a healthy range and help you avoid the long-term complications of diabetes.

"Even a person who has type 2 diabetes who is not insulin using at the moment, one day in their lifetime may be insulin using."

It may help you to understand how insulin works.

Diabetes affects the way your body uses the food you eat. Most of the food you eat changes to glucose, a form of sugar. Glucose enters the bloodstream causing your blood glucose level to rise.

As your blood glucose rises, the pancreas releases insulin. Insulin works like a key to open the cells and let glucose enter. The glucose is used for energy or stored for later use.

In people who don’t have diabetes, the body maintains a balance of glucose and insulin in the bloodstream by releasing the right amount of insulin at the right time.

But when you have diabetes, your body can’t keep your blood glucose in this healthy range without help.

To keep your blood glucose in a healthy range, you may be prescribed insulin. Take your insulin as directed to manage your diabetes and reduce the complications that can result from having high blood glucose over a period of time.

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