Insulin Reaction Glossary of Terms

Type 2 Diabetes Slideshow Pictures Diabetes and Foot Problems Slideshow Take the Diabetes Quiz!

Blood glucose: The main sugar that the body makes from the food in the diet. Glucose is carried through the bloodstream to provide energy to all cells in the body. Cells cannot use glucose without the help of insulin.
See the entire definition of Blood glucose

Blood sugar: Blood glucose. See also: High blood sugar; Low blood sugar.

Brain: That part of the central nervous system that is located within the cranium (skull). The brain functions as the primary receiver, organizer and distributor of information for the body. It has two (right and left) halves called "hemispheres."

Cell: The basic structural and functional unit in people and all living things. Each cell is a small container of chemicals and water wrapped in a membrane.
See the entire definition of Cell

Cheek: The side of the face forming the side wall of the mouth.
See the entire definition of Cheek

Coma: A state of deep unarousable unconsciousness.
See the entire definition of Coma

Depression: An illness that involves the body, mood, and thoughts, that affects the way a person eats and sleeps, the way one feels about oneself, and the way one thinks about things. A depressive disorder is not the same as a passing blue mood. It is not a sign of personal weakness or a condition that can be wished away. People with a depressive disease cannot merely "pull themselves together" and get better. Without treatment, symptoms can last for weeks, months, or years. Appropriate treatment, however, can help most people with depression.
See the entire definition of Depression

Dextrose: Better known today as glucose, this sugar is the chief source of energy in the body. Glucose is chemically considered a simple sugar. It is the main sugar that the body manufactures. The body makes glucose from all three elements of food, protein, fat and carbohydrates, but in largest part from carbohydrates. Glucose serves as the major source of energy for living cells. It is carried to each cell through the bloodstream. The cells cannot, however, use the glucose without the help of insulin. When sampled in blood, glucose is tested in transit.

Diabetes: Refers to diabetes mellitus or, less often, to diabetes insipidus. Diabetes mellitus and diabetes insipidus share the name "diabetes" because they are both conditions characterized by excessive urination (polyuria).
See the entire definition of Diabetes

Diabetic shock: Hypoglycemia (low blood sugar) associated with diabetes. Symptoms include a sweet, chemical odor on the patient's breath that is similar to that of acetone or alcohol ("acetone breath"), fatigue, light-headedness or fainting, and often reddening of the skin if the patient is Caucasian. Immediate treatment is administration of glucose in a prescription sub-lingual form, or even in the form of hard candy if nothing else is available. Patients with diabetes and their families should learn the early warning signs of hypoglycemia and carry glucose tablets for emergency use. Patients in a state of diabetic shock should also be evaluated medically immediately after emergency treatment. Changes in diet, medication, or insulin administration can then be used to prevent future episodes.

Diagnosis: 1 The nature of a disease; the identification of an illness. 2 A conclusion or decision reached by diagnosis. The diagnosis is rabies. 3 The identification of any problem. The diagnosis was a plugged IV.
See the entire definition of Diagnosis

Dizziness: Painless head discomfort with many possible causes including disturbances of vision, the brain, balance (vestibular) system of the inner ear, and gastrointestinal system. Dizziness is a medically indistinct term which laypersons use to describe a variety of conditions ranging from lightheadedness, unsteadiness to vertigo.
See the entire definition of Dizziness

Endocrine: Pertaining to hormones and the glands that make and secrete them into the bloodstream through which they travel to affect distant organs. The endocrine sites include the hypothalamus, pituitary gland, pineal gland, thyroid, parathyroids, heart (which makes atrial-natriuretic peptide), the stomach and intestines, islets of Langerhans in the pancreas, the adrenal glands, the kidney (which makes renin, erythropoietin, and calcitriol), fat cells (which make leptin). the testes, the ovarian follicle (estrogens) and the corpus luteum in the ovary). Endocrine is as opposed to exocrine. (The exocrine glands include the salivary glands, sweat glands and glands within the gastrointestinal tract.)
See the entire definition of Endocrine

Glucose: The simple sugar (monosaccharide) that serves as the chief source of energy in the body. Glucose is the principal sugar the body makes. The body makes glucose from proteins, fats and, in largest part, carbohydrates. Glucose is carried to each cell through the bloodstream. Cells, however, cannot use glucose without the help of insulin. Glucose is also known as dextrose.
See the entire definition of Glucose

Headache: A pain in the head with the pain being above the eyes or the ears, behind the head (occipital), or in the back of the upper neck. Headache, like chest pain or back ache, has many causes.
See the entire definition of Headache

Hypoglycemia: Low blood sugar (glucose). When symptoms of hypoglycemia occur together with a documented blood glucose under 45 mg/dl, and the symptoms promptly resolve with the administration of glucose, the diagnosis of hypoglycemia can be made with some certainty. Hypoglycemia is only significant when it is associated with symptoms.
See the entire definition of Hypoglycemia

Hypoglycemic: Relating to hypoglycemia, an abnormally low level of the sugar glucose in the blood, usually a complication of diabetes, in which the body does not produce enough insulin to fully metabolize glucose.
See the entire definition of Hypoglycemic

Hypothermia: Abnormally low body temperature. The condition needs treatment at body temperatures of 35C (95 F) or below. And hypothermia becomes life threatening below body temperatures of 32.2 C (90 F).
See the entire definition of Hypothermia

Injury: Harm or hurt. The term "injury" may be applied in medicine to damage inflicted upon oneself as in a hamstring injury or by an external agent on as in a cold injury. The injury may be accidental or deliberate, as with a needlestick injury. The term "injury" may be synonymous (depending on the context) with a wound or with trauma.

Insulin: A natural hormone made by the pancreas that controls the level of the sugar glucose in the blood. Insulin permits cells to use glucose for energy. Cells cannot utilize glucose without insulin.
See the entire definition of Insulin

Insulin-dependent diabetes: See Diabetes, type 1.

Lethargy: 1. Abnormal drowsiness, stupor. 2. A state of indifference.
From the Greek lethargia, drowsiness.

Liver: An organ in the upper abdomen that aids in digestion and removes waste products and worn-out cells from the blood. The liver is the largest solid organ in the body. The liver weighs about three and a half pounds (1.6 kilograms). It measures about 8 inches (20 cm) horizontally (across) and 6.5 inches (17 cm) vertically (down) and is 4.5 inches (12 cm) thick.

Low blood sugar: A low blood level of the sugar glucose. Also called hypoglycemia.
See the entire definition of Low blood sugar

Lungs: The lungs are a pair of breathing organs located with the chest which remove carbon dioxide from and bring oxygen to the blood. There is a right and left lung.

Mouth: 1. The upper opening of the digestive tract, beginning with the lips and containing the teeth, gums, and tongue. Foodstuffs are broken down mechanically in the mouth by chewing and saliva is added as a lubricant. Saliva contains amylase, an enzyme that digests starch. 2. Any opening or aperture in the body. The mouth in both senses of the word is also called the os, the Latin word for an opening, or mouth. The o in os is pronounced as in hope. The genitive form of os is oris from which comes the word oral.

Muscle: Muscle is the tissue of the body which primarily functions as a source of power. There are three types of muscle in the body. Muscle which is responsible for moving extremities and external areas of the body is called "skeletal muscle." Heart muscle is called "cardiac muscle." Muscle that is in the walls of arteries and bowel is called "smooth muscle."

Night sweats: Severe hot flashes which occur at night and result in a drenching sweat. Night sweats can have many different causes including medications, infections, and cancers.

Normal range: By convention, the normal range for whatever (a particular test, condition, symptom, behavior, etc.) is set to cover ninety-five percent (95%) of all values from the general population. Five percent (5%) of results consequently fall outside the normal range. Values that prove normal can therefore sometimes be outside the normal range.
See the entire definition of Normal range

Onset: In medicine, the first appearance of the signs or symptoms of an illness as, for example, the onset of rheumatoid arthritis. There is always an onset to a disease but never to the return to good health. The default setting is good health.
See the entire definition of Onset

Organ: A relatively independent part of the body that carries out one or more special functions. The organs of the human body include the eye, ear, heart, lungs, and liver.

Pancreas: A fish-shaped spongy grayish-pink organ about 6 inches (15 cm) long that stretches across the back of the abdomen, behind the stomach. The head of the pancreas is on the right side of the abdomen and is connected to the duodenum (the first section of the small intestine). The narrow end of the pancreas, called the tail, extends to the left side of the body.

Physiology: The study of how living organisms function including such processes as nutrition, movement, and reproduction.
See the entire definition of Physiology

Pneumonia: Inflammation of one or both lungs with consolidation. Pneumonia is frequently but not always due to infection. The infection may be bacterial, viral, fungal or parasitic. Symptoms may include fever, chills, cough with sputum production, chest pain, and shortness of breath.

Prognosis: 1. The expected course of a disease.
2. The patient's chance of recovery.
The prognosis predicts the outcome of a disease and therefore the future for the patient. His prognosis is grim, for example, while hers is good.
See the entire definition of Prognosis

Shock: In medicine, shock is a critical condition brought on by a sudden drop in blood flow through the body. There is failure of the circulatory system to maintain adequate blood flow. This sharply curtails the delivery of oxygen and nutrients to vital organs. It also compromises the kidney and so curtails the removal of wastes from the body. Shock can be due to a number of different mechanisms including not enough blood volume (hypovolemic shock) and not enough output of blood by the heart (cardiogenic shock). The signs and symptoms of shock include low blood pressure (hypotension), overbreathing (hyperventilation), a weak rapid pulse, cold clammy grayish-bluish (cyanotic) skin, decreased urine flow (oliguria), and mental changes (a sense of great anxiety and foreboding, confusion and, sometimes, combativeness).
See the entire definition of Shock

Stroke: The sudden death of some brain cells due to a lack of oxygen when the blood flow to the brain is impaired by blockage or rupture of an artery to the brain. A stroke is also called a cerebrovascular accident or, for short, a CVA.
See the entire definition of Stroke

Substance: 1. Material with particular features, as a pressor substance.
2. The material that makes up an organ or structure. Also known in medicine as the substantia.
3. A psychoactive drug as, for example, in substance abuse.

Sulfonylurea: A class of oral hypoglycemic agents (pills and capsules taken to lower the level of blood glucose) by people with type 2 diabetes. The sulfonylureas increase the secretion of insulin by the pancreas.
See the entire definition of Sulfonylurea

Sweating: The act of secreting fluid from the skin by the sweat (sudoriferous) glands. These are small tubular glands situated within and under the skin (in the subcutaneous tissue). They discharge by tiny openings in the surface of the skin.
See the entire definition of Sweating

Thyroid: 1. The thyroid gland. Also, pertaining to the thyroid gland. 2. A preparation of the thyroid gland used to treat hypothyroidism. 3. Shaped like a shield. (The thyroid gland was so-named by Thomas Wharton in 1656 because it was shaped like an ancient Greek shield.)
See the entire definition of Thyroid

Unconscious: 1. Interruption of awareness of oneself and one's surroundings, lack of the ability to notice or respond to stimuli in the environment. A person may become unconscious due to oxygen deprivation, shock, central nervous system depressants such as alcohol and drugs, or injury.
2. In psychology, that part of thought and emotion that happens outside everyday awareness.