Blood Glucose Levels and Obesity

Question 1

What is chronic elevation of blood glucose levels?

Answer 1

This is where the endothelium cells take in more glucose than normal damaging the blood vessels

Question 2

What can Atherosclerosis lead to?

Answer 2

CVD, Stroke and PVD

Question 3

What can happen to small blood vessels damaged by elevated glucose levels?

Answer 3

This can result in a Haemorrhage of blood vessels in the retina, renal failure or peripheral nerve dysfunction

Question 4

What detects the rise in blood glucose levels and what does it do?

Answer 4

Receptor cells in the pancreas which increase the secretion of insulin by the pancreas which activates the following conversion:

Glucose - Glycogen

This is stored in the liver and brings about a decrease in glucose levels

Question 5

What detects a drop in blood glucose levels and what does it do?

Answer 5

This is detected by the receptor cells in the pancreas which increases the secretion of glucagon by the pancreas which activates the following conversation:

Glycogen - Glucose

This brings about the decrease of glucose levels

Question 6

What do the adrenal glands do during exercise and the fight or flight responds?

Answer 6

The glands secrete adrenaline into the bloodstream which override normal homeostatic control and inhibit the secretion of insulin and promotes the secretion of glucagon which provides the body with additional energy supplies

Question 7

Diabetics aren’t able to do what?

Answer 7

Control their blood glucose levels and can suffer from 2 types

Question 8

Describe type 1 diabetes?

Answer 8

This is normally diagnosed in childhood. The sufferer is unable to produce insulin and is treated with regular insulin injections

Question 9

Describe type 2 diabetes?

Answer 9

This is normally diagnosed later on in life. This normally occurs due to obesity or unhealthy lifestyles. Their cells have a decreased number of insulin receptors meaning they are less sensitive to insulin and this is treated with lifestyle modifications

Question 10

Relating to diabetes, what happens after a meal?

Answer 10

Blood glucose levels will rise rapidly

Question 11

What is an indicator of diabetes?

Answer 11

The kidneys will remove some of the glucose resulting in glucose being in the urine

Question 12

What is used to diagnose diabetes and how does it do it?

Answer 12

A glucose tolerance test. This is where blood glucose levels are measured after a period of fasting. A glucose solution is then consumed and changes in their blood glucose concentration is measured for at least 2 hours. In a diabetic, blood glucose concentration will start higher and increase to a much higher level than that of a non-diabetic and takes longer to return to normal

Question 13

What is obesity a major risk of?

Answer 13

CVD and type 2 diabetes

Question 14

What is obesity is characterised by what?

Answer 14

Excess body fat in relation to lean tissue such as muscle

Question 15

What is BMI and how is it calculated?

Answer 15

This is the ideal body weight for each person and is calculated by:

Body mass➗ height (squared)

Question 16

What is considered obese?

Answer 16

A BMI calculator greater than 30

Question 17

Why is a BMI calculator unreliable sometimes?

Answer 17

Because it can wrongly class muscular individuals as obese as it doesn’t distinguish between body fat and muscle tissue

Question 18

What is obesity typically caused by?

Answer 18

A high fat free sugar diet and a lack of exercise

Question 19

What do limiting fats do?

Answer 19

These reduce high calorific value per gram

Question 20

What do free sugars do?

Answer 20

These remove the issue of having no metabolic energy expanded in their digestion

Question 21

What does exercise do?

Answer 21

Increases energy expenditure and preserves lean tissue

Question 22

Exercise can reduce the risk factors of CVD by what?

Answer 22

Keeping weight under control, minimising stress, reducing hypertension and improving HDL blood lipid profiles