NOTE ON THE THERAPEUTICS OF SUGAR

Hypoglycemia is a blood glucose level below 70 mg/dL. It commonly occurs in individuals using insulin or insulin-secreting drugs, but may also arise in non-diabetic conditions. People with type 1 diabetes are at the highest risk because they depend on exogenous insulin. People with type 2 diabetes are also at risk, especially when treated with insulin or medications such as sulfonylureas, which increase insulin release regardless of blood glucose levels. It develops when insulin levels exceed...

Glucose transporters facilitate the transport of glucose across the cell membrane. In addition to glucose, some glucose transporters can also aid the movement of other hexoses such as fructose, mannose, and galactose.
Facilitated diffusion-glucose transporters (GLUTs) are encoded by the solute-linked carrier (SLC) family 2, subfamily A gene family, or SLC2A. The 14 GLUT protein members are distributed into three classes:

Sugar (a simple carbohydrate) metabolism (chemical reactions) is a classic example of the many cellular processes that use and produce energy. Living things consume sugar as a major energy source because sugar molecules have considerable energy stored within their bonds. Consumed carbohydrates have their origins in photosynthesizing organisms like plants. During photosynthesis, plants use the energy of sunlight to convert carbon dioxide gas into sugar molecules, like glucose. Because this...

Sugar (a simple carbohydrate) metabolism (chemical reactions) is a classic example of the many cellular processes that use and produce energy. Living things consume sugar as a major energy source because sugar molecules have considerable energy stored within their bonds. Consumed carbohydrates have their origins in photosynthesizing organisms like plants. During photosynthesis, plants use the energy of sunlight to convert carbon dioxide gas into sugar molecules, like glucose. Because this...

The therapy for diabetes aims to alleviate hyperglycemia-related symptoms, prevent acute metabolic decompensation, and reduce chronic end-organ complications. Glycemic control is evaluated through short-term (self-monitoring, continuous glucose monitoring) and long-term (A1c, fructosamine) metrics, enabling near real-time tracking of blood glucose levels and reflecting glycemic control over specific time frames.
Insulin remains the cornerstone of treatment for most patients with type 1 and many...

α-glucosidase inhibitors, including acarbose (Precose), miglitol (Glyset), and voglibose (Voglib) (primarily available in Asia), are drugs that control blood sugar levels by delaying the digestion of starch and disaccharides. They achieve this by inhibiting α-glucosidase enzymes in the intestine, which slow the absorption of carbohydrates in the intestine, which in turn leads to a prolonged release of the glucoregulatory hormone GLP-1 from intestinal L-cells.
Acarbose and miglitol are typically...