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Glucagon | A protein hormone secreted by pancreatic endocrine cells that raises blood glucose levels; an antagonistic hormone to insulin. |
Glucose Tolerance Test | A test of the body’s ability to metabolize glucose that involves the administration of a measured dose of glucose to the fasting stomach and the determination of blood glucose levels in the blood or urine at intervals |
Homeostasis | The maintenance of relatively stable internal physiological conditions (as body temperature or the pH of blood) in higher animals under fluctuating environmental conditions. |
Hormone | A product of living cells that circulates in blood and produces a specific, often stimulatory, effect on the activity of cells that are often far from the source of the hormone. |
Insulin | A protein hormone secreted by the pancreas that is essential for the metabolism of carbohydrates and the regulation of glucose levels in the blood. |
Negative Feedback | A primary mechanism of homeostasis, whereby a change in a physiological variable that is being monitored triggers a response that counteracts the initial fluctuation. |
Positive Feedback | Feedback that tends to magnify a process or increase its output. |
Type 1 Diabetes | Diabetes of a form that usually develops during childhood or adolescence and is characterized by a severe deficiency of insulin, leading to high blood glucose levels. |
Type 2 Diabetes | Diabetes of a form that develops especially in adults and most often obese individuals |
Adenosine Tri-phosphate (ATP) | A compound composed of adenosine and three phosphate groups that supplies energy for many biochemical cellular processes by undergoing enzymatic hydrolysis. |
Amino Acid | An organic monomer which serves as a building block of proteins. |
Carbohydrate | A sugar in the form of a monosaccharide, disaccharide or polysaccharide. |
Calorie | The amount of heat energy required to raise the temperature of 1 g of water by 1°C |
Chemical Bond | An attractive force that holds together the atoms, ions, or groups of atoms in a molecule or compound. |
Chemical Indicator | A substance (as a dye) used to show visually usually by its capacity for color change, the condition of a solution with respect to the presence of free acid or alkali or some other substance. |
Chemical Reaction | Chemical transformation or change; the interaction of chemical entities. |
Compound | A substance consisting of two or more elements in a fixed ratio. |
Covalent bond | A type of strong chemical bond in which two atoms share one or more pairs of valence electrons. |
Dehydration Synthesis | A chemical reaction in which two molecules are bonded together with the removal of a water molecule. |
Disaccharide | A double sugar molecule made of two monosaccharides bonded together through dehydration synthesis. |
Element | The smallest particle of a substance that retains all the properties of the substance and is composed of one or more atoms. |
Glucose | A monomer of carbohydrate, simple sugar. |
Homeostasis | The maintenance of relatively stable internal physiological conditions (as body temperature or the pH of blood) in higher animals under fluctuating environmental conditions. |
Hydrolysis | A chemical process that splits a molecule by adding water. |
Ionic bond | A chemical bond resulting from the attraction between oppositely charged ions. |
Lipid | One of a family of compounds including fats, phospholipids, and steroids that is insoluble in water. |
Macromolecule | A type of giant molecule formed by joining smaller molecules which includes proteins, polysaccharides, lipids, and nucleic acids. |
Molecule | Two or more atoms held together by covalent bonds. |
Monomer | The subunit that serves as the building block of a polymer. |
Monosaccharide | The subunit that serves as the building block of a polymer. |
Nutrient | A substance that is needed by the body to maintain life and health. |
Polymer | A large molecule consisting of many repeating chemical units or molecules linked together. |
Polysaccharide | A polymer of thousands of simple sugars formed by dehydration synthesis. |
Protein | A three dimensional polymer made of monomers of amino acids. |
Hemoglobin A1c | A test that measures the level of hemoglobin A1c in the blood as a means of determining the average blood sugar concentrations for the preceding two to three months. |
Hyperglycemia | An excess of sugar in the blood. |
Hypertonic | In comparing two solutions, referring to the one with a greater solute concentration. |
Hypoglycemia | Abnormal decrease of sugar in the blood. |
Hypotonic | In comparing two solutions, referring to the one with a lower solute concentration. |
Isotonic | Having the same solute concentration as another solution. |
Osmosis | The movement of water across a selectively permeable membrane from an area of higher concentration to an area of lower concentration. |
Solute | A substance that is dissolved in a solution. |
Solution | A liquid that is a homogeneous mixture of two or more substances. |
Solvent | The dissolving agent of a solution. Water is the most versatile solvent known. |