The role of insulin in the body

Insulin comes from an organ in the stomach area called the pancreas. The main role of insulin is to ensure that sugar from nutrients in food is correctly used or stored in the body.

If your body can make enough insulin, you don't have diabetes. In people who don't have diabetes, insulin helps:

• Control blood sugar levels. After you eat, your body breaks down nutrients called carbohydrates into a sugar called glucose. Glucose is the body's main source of energy. It's also called blood sugar. Blood sugar goes up after you eat.

  When glucose enters the bloodstream, the pancreas responds by making insulin. Then insulin allows glucose to enter the body's cells to give them energy.

• Store extra glucose for energy. After you eat, insulin levels are high. Extra glucose is stored in the liver. This stored glucose is called glycogen.

  Between meals, insulin levels are low. During that time, the liver releases glycogen into the bloodstream in the form of glucose. This keeps blood sugar levels within a narrow range.

If you have diabetes:

Your blood sugar levels keep rising after you eat. That's because there's not enough insulin to move the glucose into your body's cells. With type 1 diabetes, the pancreas stops making insulin. With type 2 diabetes, the pancreas doesn't make enough insulin. And in some people with diabetes, insulin does not work well.

If you don't get treatment for diabetes, high blood sugar can lead to health problems over time. These conditions include:

• Heart attack or stroke.
• Kidney disease leading to kidney failure.
• Eye problems, including blindness.
• Nerve damage with nerve pain or numbness, called diabetic neuropathy.
• Foot problems that may lead to surgery to remove the foot.
• Dental issues.