What Is Insulin And Why Is It Necessary?
Insulin is a hormone. It’s made by certain cells in the pancreas, which are called the beta cells of the pancreas, and the beta cells from the pancreas are part of these little islets called the Islets of Langerhans. That’s where insulin normally comes from, and in type 2 diabetes there is always some insulin coming out from those beta cells; in type 1 diabetes, you tend to lose the beta cells and make no insulin. Since 1921 or so, though, insulin has been available as a pharmacologic approach, so you can take insulin by injection, and you can replace what’s not being made in the pancreas.
