Blood sugar level several interacting systems, of which hormone regulation is the most important. There are two types of mutually antagonistic metabolic hormones affecting blood glucose levels: These hormones are secreted from pancreatic islets which are bundles of endocrine tissues. There are four types of pancreatic islets, alpha (A) cells, beta (B) cells, Delta (D) cells and F cells. Glucagon is secreted from alpha cells, while insulin is secreted by beta cells. Together they regulate the blood-glucose levels through negative feedback, a process where the end product of one reaction stimulates the beginning of another reaction. In blood-glucose levels, insulin lowers the concentration
Blood sugar level is essential, as damage to brain and other tissues and even death will result from sufficiently low blood-glucose levels. Glucose testing in a fasting individual, show comparable levels of glucose in arterial, venous, and capillary blood. But following meals, capillary and arterial blood glucose levels can be significantly higher than venous levels. Although these differences vary widely, one study found that following the consumption of 50 grams of glucose, "the mean capillary blood glucose concentration is higher than the mean venous blood glucose concentration by 35%." Glucose is measured in whole blood, plasma or serum. Historically, blood glucose values were