Metabolism explanations
Thyroid disease
Explaining the thyroid gland and abnormalities:
The thyroid gland is a butterfly-shaped gland at the base of your neck. It releases chemicals into your bloodstream. These chemicals control the rate of activities, such as how fast your burn calories and how fast your heart beats.
In hyperthyroidism, you have too much of these chemicals, so these activities happen at a faster rate. This why you might feel your heart racing, or you might lose weight if you have hyperthyroidism.
In hypothyroidism, you have too little of these chemicals, so these activities happen at a slower rate. This why you might have a slow heart rate, put on weight, and feel tired if you have hypothyroidism.
Analogy
The thyroid gland helps control our metabolism. When it is working too much it is like pushing down hard on the accelerator in the car. So, you can get diarrhoea, speak quickly and feel ‘hyper’. When it is under-active, it is like pushing down on the breaks. You might get constipated, have low moods, put on weight and feel tired.
Diabetes
Food raises the levels of sugar in the blood. We get sugars when our body breaks down the carbohydrates from our diet, like from bread and rice. We need this sugar for energy. We also need a chemical in our blood called insulin. Insulin is the key to open our cells and let sugar into our cells. This makes sure we have enough energy in our cells and that the level of sugar in the blood flowing around our body isn’t too high.
In diabetes, there is not enough insulin or it is not working. This means sugar will stay in the blood. If blood sugar levels get too high, you can feel tired because your cells aren’t getting enough energy. The body starts to break down fat to get energy so you might lose weight too. The body decides there is too much sugar, so it tries to get rid of it by making you pee. This might make you more thirsty.
Over a long period of time, diabetes can damage important parts of the body like your kidney, heart, and eyes. But with the right treatment, people with diabetes can live a normal life and have a low risk of these complications.
Type 1 vs Type 2
Type 1 diabetes is when someone does not make any insulin
Type 2 diabetes is when the insulin levels or too low or does not work
We can think of type 1 diabetes and type 2 diabetes like different types of cars.
A type 1 diabetic car has no insulin (key) to open the fuel tank (cells) so the tank stays empty, with no fuel (sugar) for energy. Without being able to open the lid, a meal is eaten but no fuel enters the tank and the car doesn’t function correctly. An outside key must be used (insulin injection) to open the tank and fill it with fuel (food).
A type 2 car is able to receive some fuel, however a lot of it spills on the outside of the car leaving noticeably high fuel levels (sugar levels) outside the tank.