Problem
Answer the following questions about "Diabetes Mellitus":
In untreated NIDDM, the plasma glucose level is high due to both reduced clearance of glucose from the plasma and increased release of glucose (from the liver) into the plasma. Explain how a reduced response to insulin might (i) decrease the removal of glucose from the circulation and (ii) increase glucose release into the circulation (HINT: thinking about the role of insulin in glucose homeostasis in normal conditions, and what happens to blood glucose levels if insulin can not efficiently act.)
In what ways are the fuel supply and hormonal signals similar in untreated diabetes mellitus and starvation? In what ways are they dissimilar?
Untreated IDDM is associated with high levels of ketone bodies in the circulation. Explain why.