InsulinInsulin hormone, Insulin injectionInsulin is the hormone made by the pancreas that moves glucose out of the blood and into cells. As a medicine it replaces or supplements what the body cannot produce, and it is given by injection because stomach acid would destroy it.
Beta cell
Also known as β-cell, Islet beta cell
The cells in the pancreas that make insulin. Diabetes develops when they are destroyed or can no longer keep up.
Beta cells sit in clusters in the pancreas called the islets of Langerhans. They sense the in your blood minute by minute and release exactly as much as is needed.
In type 1 diabetes the immune system destroys them, and insulin production stops almost completely. In type 2 diabetes they are gradually exhausted by years of overwork against .
Related terms
- PancreasAn organ behind the stomach that makes insulin to control blood sugar, and enzymes that digest food. Diabetes is a disease of its insulin-making cells.
- Type 1 diabetesInsulin-dependent diabetes, Juvenile diabetesA form of diabetes where the immune system destroys the cells that make insulin, so insulin injections are needed for life.
- Insulin resistanceWhen the body's cells stop responding properly to insulin, so the pancreas must make more and more of it to keep blood sugar normal.