The pancreas functions as both a gland and an organ in the body's digestive system. The pancreas contains beta cells that are the only cells in the body capable of producing insulin. As a Type 1 diabetic, your pancreas’s beta cells either cannot produce insulin at all or have lost most of their ability to do so.

Insulin is a hormone produced by the pancreas and it plays an essential role in the body's metabolism. Insulin allows muscle and fat tissue cells to take in and use glucose from the blood and it also allows the liver to take in glucose for storage.³ This keeps blood glucose levels from getting too high. Since a Type 1 diabetic’s pancreas can’t make insulin, you have to provide it yourself, either through injections or an insulin pump.

Ah, glucose. This is the thing you are constantly measuring as a Type 1 diabetic – your blood glucose levels, also commonly referred to as blood sugar levels. Glucose is a simple sugar and one of the body's primary sources of energy. Your brain and nervous system especially rely on glucose as their main source of fuel. In fact, the brain has an absolute dependence on glucose and cannot function without it.⁴ If you’ve ever experienced low blood glucose levels (hypoglycemia), you know how difficult it can be to think straight…this is because your brain is being deprived of its primary fuel source!

High blood sugar levels (hyperglycemia) for extended periods of time are not a good thing either. When a pancreas is functioning normally, it will release insulin in response to high blood glucose levels (for example, right after eating). The insulin then allows muscle, fat, and liver tissue cells to take in the blood glucose and use it or store it as glycogen. When the pancreas can no longer produce insulin (as in Type 1 diabetes), this glucose stays in the blood and your body can’t use it like it needs to; it eventually passes out of the body through your urine and your body loses its primary fuel supply.¹

Seriously elevated blood glucose levels can lead to a condition known as ketoacidosis, which can result in a coma and even death. Extended periods of high blood glucose levels can eventually cause complications, such as heart disease, eye, kidney, nerve, and blood vessel damage, among others, and eventually, death. Avoiding these terrible complications is one of the main reasons to keep your blood sugar levels in check!

Glycogen is a secondary source of long-term energy, stored primarily in the liver and muscle. Insulin allows glucose to be stored as glycogen.

The A1C test is a method of determining your average blood glucose levels over the past 2-3 months. Regular blood sugar tests at home are a great way to keep your day-to-day blood sugar levels in check, but if you want to know how you've been doing over an extended period of time, the A1C test gives you an average. A1C tests are typically performed by your doctor as often as he/she deems necessary (usually at least twice a year).⁵

Glucagon is another hormone produced in the pancreas and it has the opposite effect of insulin; it raises blood glucose levels. When blood sugar levels fall too low, the pancreas releases glucagon which stimulates the liver to break down all of that glycogen it stored up back into glucose and release it back into the bloodstream. So, you can see, in a properly functioning system, insulin and glucagon work together to keep blood sugar levels in check.

1. National Diabetes Information Clearinghouse. (2012, April 4). Diabetes overview. Bethesda, MD: National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases, National Institutes of Health. Retrieved from http://diabetes.niddk.nih.gov/dm/pubs/overview/index.aspx
2. American Diabetes Association. (2012). Diabetes basics: Type 1. Retrieved from http://www.diabetes.org/diabetes-basics/type-1/
3. Bowen, R. A. (2009, August 1). The endocrine pancreas: Physiologic effects of insulin. Colorado State University. Retrieved from http://www.vivo.colostate.edu/hbooks/pathphys/endocrine/pancreas/insulin_phys.html
4. Radermecker, R.R., Philips, J.C., Jandrain, B.J., Paquot, N., Lefèbvre, P.J., & Scheen, A.J. (2008, May – June). Brain, a gluco-dependent organ: toxic effects of hypoglycaemia and hyperglycaemia. US National Library of Medicine, National Institutes of Health. 63,5-6. Abstract retrieved from http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18669193
5. American Diabetes Association. (2012). Living with diabetes: A1C. Retrieved from http://www.diabetes.org/living-with-diabetes/treatment-and-care/blood-glucose-control/a1c/?keymatch=A1c