Glucose Is Essential For Life, But Can Be Harmfulto Life

Glucose.Glucose is a simple sugar, a single hexagonal molecule composed of 6 carbon atoms, 12 hydrogen atoms, and 6 oxygen atoms. Glucose is stable only for short time periods in biological systems. Once absorbed into our blood from food or liquids, it travels in the blood until transported into a cell by the action of insulin. Once inside a cell, glucose will react. The dominant reaction is the joining of phosphate (PO4) by the action of a facilitating enzyme, and thus glucose enters the sequence of "glycolysis," whereby glucose sequentially transitions into two different smaller molecules: water (H2O) and carbon dioxide (CO2)and yields high energy molecules: ATP. Glucose thereby yields essential energy as it is metabolized to carbon dioxide and water. Glucose movement into tissue cells depends upon insulin as the transport agent. And insulin isreleased into our blood as glucose concentrations rise from ingested food. This harmony and synchrony is essential and repetitive. It is programmed genetically. Glucose enters the blood stream across the intestine surfaces; glucose stimulates insulin secretion by the pancreas. Insulin transports glucose across cell membranes into cell interiors where the glucose molecule transitions through enzyme-facilitated changes, yielding energy, water, and carbon dioxide.Glycosylation.The glucose molecule also may bedriven to attach to other larger molecules by different enzymes, yielding a change in that largermolecule that will serve other purposes. The enzyme-driven attachment of glucose to a larger molecule is called "glycosylation" and these reactions also are programmed genetically, thereby creating changed macromolecules with special functions. Nucleic acids become functional when glycosylated. Certain proteins become especially functional when glycosylated. Certain enzymes must be glycosylated before becoming functional. The multiple purposes of glucose are amazing and numerous.Glycation.Glucose by its nature is "reactive." Its reactivity with phosphate is positive, essential, and beneficial inside a cell; its enzymatically-driven reactivity with certain receptive macromolecules is also positive, essential, purposeful, and beneficial. However, a glucose molecule that is not transported promptly into a cell interior or that is not enzymatically-driven to attach purposefully to a macromolecule will reactrandomly and non-beneficially to other macromolecules, where the reaction serves no purpose. In fact, these random "glycation" reactions are potentially harmful. If a glucose molecule "glycates" a membrane protein, that membrane protein is now altered irreversibly. Its nature is changed. If multiple glycation reactions accumulate onto a given cell or tissue, then the cell's nature and the tissue's nature is altered. Glycation is not programmed. It is not driven by an enzyme. Glycation is a random event that serves no positive purpose. Glycation events accumulate when glucose molecules circulate too long in the blood stream. When does this happen? Glycation events accumulate when sugar ingestion - when glucose ingestion - is excessive and repeated and/or when insulin secretion is sluggish or inadequate and/or when insulin action as glucose transport agent at tissues is impaired or resisted. Glycation events accumulate in the person with insulin lack (a form of diabetes) and in the person with resistance to insulin action at the tissue membrane sites (another form of diabetes). Thus,glucose becomes harmful when its transport intocells is delayed. A glucose molecule that circulates and circulates without uptake into tissues will glycate randomly onto a macromolecule, altering it irreversibly. Glycation is harmful. Prevention of glycation is an essentialgoal for the healthcare of millions and millions and millions of individuals who are at risk for diabetes or who are prediabetic or who actually have diabetes mellitus. Glycation events are whatcause disease and complications and injury and death of the at risk individuals.Rex Mahnensmith M.D. is an experienced and concerned Internal Medicine Physician with special interests in diabetic problems and diabetic care. He believes that prevention of illness is key to ongoing health and wellness.Article Source:http://EzineArticles.com/expert/Rex_Mahnensmith/2250521