Naked Science Forum

Life Sciences => Physiology & Medicine => Topic started by: sue1234 on 09/06/2011 23:00:37

Title: Need help with understanding blood glucose and albumin
Post by: sue1234 on 09/06/2011 23:00:37

I have a kind of a long question, as I'm trying to wrap my head around something and actually understand it.  If I understand it better, then I can talk to my doctor about it in a more intelligent way.

What does albumin have to do with blood sugar?  I get low blood sugar all the time, and have for almost 20 years.  I am not a diabetic.  The other problem I have had for the last few years is I am orthostatic intolerant, meaning, if I stand for more than say 5-8 minutes, I feel like fainting.  My heart rate and b/p go up.  It's kind of like I don't have enough blood volume or something.  The doctors can only tell me I have this, but not why.

I read something that said albumin(or protein in the blood(same thing?)) might get diverted in hypoglycemia to become glucose.  Is this true?

If so, does it make sense that chronic hypoglycemia episodes could divert enough albumin to cause chronically low blood volume(specifically the plasma)??

I guess you can see where I'm going with this!  If this is the case, then my orthostatic issues could very well be related back to years of low blood sugar.  I guess getting that under good control could help the orthostatic issues.

Thanks in advance for any explanations!!

Title: Need help with understanding blood glucose and albumin
Post by: RD on 10/06/2011 01:54:38

Quote from: sue1234 on 09/06/2011 23:00:37

What does albumin have to do with blood sugar?  I get low blood sugar all the time

Albumin affects the release of insulin ... http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16029032
Delivering too much insulin at once will cause hypoglycemia.

Title: Need help with understanding blood glucose and albumin
Post by: sue1234 on 10/06/2011 02:29:50

Thanks for the link,however, I interpret it as talking about linking albumin with exogenous insulin for delivery to diabetics.  I am not a diabetic and take no insulin.  In that context, I was wondering what albumin(or protein) has to do with blood sugar. 

Title: Need help with understanding blood glucose and albumin
Post by: RD on 10/06/2011 03:32:21

Quote from: sue1234 on 10/06/2011 02:29:50

Thanks for the link,however, I interpret it as talking about linking albumin with exogenous insulin for delivery to diabetics. 

it's also true of endogenous insulin (which is a hormone) ...

Quote

Many hormones, drugs, and other molecules are mostly bound to albumin in the bloodstream and must be released before becoming biologically active.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hypoalbuminemia