Learn about the influence generated by the insulin and glucone hormones in our blood glucose levels.
Whatever you do can be considered as a reaction to the action of some external force. The same goes with your body whatever actions you do like running, eating, dancing, even resting becomes that external force that constantly disrupts your internal balances. Our body has its mechanism to be in this constant dynamic equilibrium. One such example is the antagonizing relationship of insulin and glucagon hormones which work day and night to restore your optimum blood glucose levels.
Working of Insulin and Glucagon
Let’s first get an insight into the hormones, both insulin and glucagon are proteinaceous in nature and are secreted by beta cells and alpha cells of the pancreas respectively. On one hand, insulin works to lower down high blood glucose, glucagon works to increase the same. Their functions might not be the same but coming from the same gland gives them a common goal of maintaining an adequate range of blood glucose levels. The term blood glucose refers to the amount of glucose dissolved in your blood after the digestion of the meal you took. Depending on your activity status whether you are eating, resting, or fasting your blood glucose levels vary between 70 to 130 mg/dl.
Likewise, just after your meal intake, there is a rise in blood glucose levels which could be as high as 140mg/dl. To combat this, the pancreas releases spurts of insulin in a healthy individual. The levels get restored in around 2 hours. During this time insulin helps glucose enter cells and extract energy from them. When cells have sufficient energy this glucose is converted to glycogen in the liver, muscles, and fats as a stored form. After five to six hours of your meal intake, the glucose levels tend to fall. To pull up these falling glucose levels in the blood, the pancreas releases glucagon, converting the glycogen from the liver to glucose. Then this glucose further enters the blood and elevates blood glucose levels.
Insulin: Glucagon ratio (IGR)
Let’s dive a little into the functions of these two hormones. At first, their prime area of action revolves around muscles, fat cells, and liver. Insulin primarily acts as an anabolic hormone as it promotes glycogenesis, lipogenesis i.e. production of glycogen and lipids respectively ( anabolism characterized by or promoting constructive metabolism). Whereas glucagon can be considered a catabolic hormone as it promotes lipolysis, glycogenolysis, gluconeogenesis i.e. it degrades lipids and glycogen to make glucose( catabolism is characterized by metabolic activities concerned with the breakdown of complex molecules).
In a way, if you have high insulin relative to glucagon then your body is in anabolism and if you have low insulin compared to glucagon then your body is in catabolism. Thus insulin to glucagon (I: G ratio or IGR) is an indicator of the predominating metabolic function. As these hormones work towards a common goal, accessing their ratio instead of absolute values could help us have an analytical perspective.
The IGR varies inversely with the body’s need for glucose production. It is lowest in total starvation and highest during meal intake. In brief, the IGR acts as a physiological fulcrum, balancing two opposite ends of the metabolic spectrum to provide energy when needed and conserve it if possible. (1)
Inference of the information could establish a direct relation between Blood Glucose levels and the Insulin Glucagon ratio. Nevertheless learning to manage any fluctuating blood glucose levels could give you an upper hand in this insulin vs glucagon’s never-ending tug of war.
Managing Blood Glucose Levels
Many factors could alter your blood glucose levels such as:
Low blood glucose can be observed in cases of missed meals and fasting, increased physical activity, or alcohol consumption, especially on an empty stomach. Low blood glucose levels (less than 70 mg/dl) are known as hypoglycemia. They lead to the release of epinephrine (fight-or-flight) hormone which causes shaking, tingling, anxiety, and raised heartbeat. If it continues then glucose levels in the brain might fall causing blurred vision, drowsiness, confusion, slurred speech. Treating hypoglycemia is very important as it can become fatal if it remains untreated. To treat you need to eat/drink around 15 grams of sugar like half a cup of fruit juice or soda, or just 4-6 pieces of hard candy.
A rise in blood glucose is observed after intake of carbohydrate-rich diet, overeating, inefficient working of insulin, stress, illness. These are manifested as excessive thirst, need to urinate again and again, generalized tiredness. Sustained elevated high blood levels can give rise to diabetes. For discussing ways to manage high blood glucose levels, understanding diabetes is important. Rest depends on how you and the medical practitioner conclude what anti-diabetic drugs to use.
Here comes the role of IGR as it could act as a predictor of the chosen anti-diabetic drug as it can depict the metabolic state of the individual. Though data are limited and may be conflicting, one can create a model, based upon absolute and relative values of insulin and glucagon, to facilitate the selection of the appropriate therapy. (1)
The American Diabetes Association recommends blood glucose of 126 mg/dl or higher in fasting state (at least 8 hours) for a person with diabetes. After 2 hours of eating a meal, blood glucose levels should be equal to higher than 200mg/dL(2). Thus it will not be wrong to say that managing blood glucose levels comes as a part of managing your diabetes. Nowadays with easy accessibility to glucometers, you can keep a check of your blood glucose levels at home or you could also use a CGMS ( continuous glucose monitoring system), it’s like a tiny sensor inserted under your skin that measures glucose every few minutes)
We record so much all our lives, can’t you keep a check on one more- healthy blood glucose represents a healthy you.
References
The Insulin:Glucagon Ratio and the Choice of Glucose-Lowering Drugs Sanjay Kalra1 and Yashdeep Gupta2
Content Credits
Ankita Chaudhary
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