Regulating Glucose

This lesson covers:

  1. Why we need to control the concentration of glucose in our bloodstream
  2. How insulin and glucagon work

The terms 'blood glucose levels' or 'blood glucose concentration' just refer to how much glucose is dissolved in our blood plasma. 


So a high blood glucose concentration means that there are lots of glucose molecules dissolved in the blood. 

Diagram showing the structure of a glucose molecule with carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen atoms.

What happens if blood glucose concentrations fall too low? 

There won't be enough glucose for tissue cells to respire

The blood will get too thick

It will damage the heart

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After eating, does our blood glucose concentration increase or decrease? 

Increase

Decrease 

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Which organ detects changes in blood glucose concentration?

Brain

Heart

Liver

Pancreas

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Which hormone decreases blood glucose levels? 

Insulin

Glucagon

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What are the two main organs that insulin stimulates to absorb glucose from the blood?

Pancreas

Muscles

Heart

Liver

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Illustration of a liver representing glucose storage and conversion.

When glucose is absorbed by the liver for long term storage, what molecule is it converted to?

Glycogen

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How glucagon works


high / low / liver / pancreas / heart / insulin / glucagon / glycogen / glucose


  1. When blood glucose levels fall too , it's detected by the .
  2. This causes the pancreas to release the hormone into the blood stream.
  3. This hormone then travels around the body, and binds mainly to cells in the .
  4. This stimulates those liver cells to break down their stored into and release it into the blood. 
  5. This extra glucose increases blood glucose levels back up to normal.
low
pancreas
glucagon
liver
glycogen
glucose

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