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Insulin is a hormone. It makes our body’s cells absorb glucose from the blood. The glucose is stored in the liver and muscle as glycogen and stops the body from using fat as a source of energy.

When there is very little insulin in the blood or none at all, glucose is not taken up by most body cells. When this happens our body uses fat as a source of energy. Insulin is also a control signal to other body systems, such as amino acid uptake by body cells. Insulin is not identical in all animals – their levels of strength vary.

Porcine insulin, insulin from a pig, is the most similar to human insulin. Humans can receive animal insulin. However, genetic engineering has allowed us to synthetically produce ‘human’ insulin.

The pancreas

The pancreas is part of the digestive system. It is located high up in your abdomen and lies across your body where the ribs meet at the bottom. It is shaped like a leaf and is about six inches long. The wide end is called the head while the narrower end is called the tail; the mid-part is called the body.

The pancreas has two principal functions:

1. It produces pancreatic digestive juices.
2. It produces insulin and other digestive hormones.

The endocrine pancreas is the part of the pancreas that produces insulin and other hormones.

The exocrine pancreas is the part of the pancreas that produces digestive juices.

Insulin is produced in the pancreas. When protein is ingested insulin is released.

Insulin is also released when glucose is present in the blood. After eating carbohydrates, blood glucose levels rise.

Insulin makes it possible for glucose to enter our body’s cells – without glucose in our cells they would not be able to function. Without insulin the glucose cannot enter our cells.

Within the pancreas, the Islets of Langerhans contain Beta cells, which synthesize (make) the insulin. Approximately 1 to 3 million Islets of Langerhans make up the endocrine part of the pancreas (mainly the exocrine gland), representing just one fiftieth of the pancreas’ total mass.

Etymology (history) of the word pancreas

It is said that the pancreas was described first by Herophilus of Chalcedon in about 300B.C. and the organ was named by Rufus of Ephesus in about 100A.D

However, it is an established fact that the word pancreas had been used by Aristotle (384-322B.C.) before Herophilus.

In Aristotle’s Historia Animalium, there is a line saying “another to the so-called pancreas”. It is considered that the words “so-called pancreas” imply that the word pancreas had been popular at the time of Aristotle, but it had not been authorized yet as an anatomical term.

However, the word pancreas presumably has been accepted as an anatomical term since Herophilus.

The word pancreas comes from the Greek pankreas, meaning sweetbread.
How the Body Works: The Pancreas

This diabetes information section was written by Christian Nordqvist

Physician / Preventive Medicine Expert Explains How To Reverse Obesity And Diabetes Naturally
Article Date: 27 May 2009 – 8:00 PDT

Irving A. Cohen, MD, MPH, will be at Book Expo America 2009, Booth 5065, May 29-31, to discuss his new book “Dr. Cohen’s Guide to the New Hippocratic Diet^TM: How to Really Lose Weight and Beat the Obesity Epidemic” It teaches dieters how to lose weight easily and naturally despite having failed before.

In his book, Dr. Cohen explains how three decades ago the Federal government tried to “fix” the problem of overweight adults by recommending low-fat diets for all Americans. They were wrong. As a result, four times as many Americans are overweight. Because most Americans believe that bad advice, they gain weight as they try to diet. The government blocks efforts to help those who are overweight or who may suffer from Type 2 Diabetes, unless they conform to that misguided government policy.

Dr. Cohen’s weight-loss program has helped many. In addition to losing weight, people suffering from Type 2 Diabetes have been able to come completely off medications and reverse their disease. His book has been featured on The Diabetes Power Show. Dr. Cohen developed his approach using a mathematical model (Medical Hypotheses, in press, http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.mehy.2009.03.039) that predicts the ability of a weight reduction of diet to suppress hunger. That model showed that diets are not equal, and the approach pushed by the government increases hunger, causing dieters to fail.

The book explains how Dr. Cohen studied older medical practices as a Fellow in the History of Medicine to find similarities to the approach he was using. He found parallels both in 19th century Germany as well as 2400 year old recommendations of Hippocrates, the founder of rational Western medicine. The book offers practical, modern advice on how to use weight naturally, as was done in times past.

Dr. Cohen is a Board-Certified physician specializing in Preventive Medicine and a Fellow of the American College of Preventive Medicine. He trained in Preventive Medicine at Johns Hopkins University where he served as Chief Resident of Preventive Medicine. He has served as the Deputy Director of the New York State Research Institute on Addictions. He now practices in Kansas.

Source
Center for Health Information