Glucose Insulin is a hormone that regulates glucose levels, allowing the body's cells to absorb and use glucose. Without it, glucose cannot enter the cell and therefore cannot be used as fuel for the body's functions. If the pancreas is exposed to persistently high elevations of blood glucose levels, the insulin-producing cells in the pancreas could be damaged, causing a lack of insulin in the body. Insulin resistance occurs when the pancreas tries to produce more and more insulin in response to persistently elevated blood glucose levels. Eventually, the rest of the body becomes resistant to the insulin that the pancreas
Glucose glucose themselves from certain precursors as the need arises. Nerve cells, cells of the renal medulla and erythrocytes depend on glucose for their energy production.<ref name="Löffler/Petrides 195">Peter C. Heinrich: "Löffler/Petrides Biochemie und Pathobiochemie." Springer-Verlag, 2014, , p. 195. (german)</ref> In adult humans, there are about 18 g of glucose, of which about 4 g are present in the blood. Approximately 180 to 220 g of glucose are produced in the liver of an adult in 24 hours. Many of the long-term complications of diabetes (e.g., blindness, kidney failure, and peripheral neuropathy) are probably due to the glycation of proteins or