Pitfalls of insulin delivery

The vast majority of cells in our body needs insulin to support constant supply of foods to build cells and support their well being. When a body mass increases, so increases also the need for insulin. On the other hand, the major part of insulin released from pancreas ends up in the liver. The whole blood delivery system around liver is specially designed for that. It is like grand avenues leading to the center of a major city, to deliver goods that stay there due to large demand. Further away from the center, on the periphery, roads get smaller, and the concentration of goods, like insulin, is lower. Insulin is a rather short-lived hormone and lasts only for some minutes before it is removed from the blood. To achieve an adequate supply of foods into cells, which is essential for anabolic metabolism, a new dose of the hormone has to be released from pancreas about every five minutes. Such intermittent release of insulin never overloads the cells with the information this hormone carries. Cells in our body are permanently eager to get more.

Keeping those few facts in our minds, let us think about the current use of insulin by millions of people around the world “to control their blood glucose” (see Glucose vs. insulin). Below is a list of few issues that we have to seriously take into the account. First, insulin injections cannot utilize the specialized, central delivery system to the liver. Small streets, instead of the grand avenues of the big city, are challenged to deliver insulin to satiate the large demand. Second, insulin is delivered to the periphery, where cells are not at all used to high loads of insulin. Not anymore the cells are eager to get more insulin, they rather defend themselves against constant information overload. Third, for the same effect, more and more hormone is needed, the body is developing a tolerance, which can lead to complete insensitivity to insulin. Fourth, since cells are exposed to an excess of insulin, they load up too much nutrinents that can eventually end up in fat, increasing body mass and requiring even more insulin for the basic needs (see also How much insulin?). And fifth, once we start adding the hormone to the body, it will limit or stop producing its own, making those people critically dependent on the health and financial system stability. Causal relationships related to hormonal control in our body are complex. Injecting a hormone may remove the signs and symptoms of diabetes mellitus, but will in addition do much more, mostly damaging. I shall cover different aspects of that in my future posts.