| A | B |
|---|
| Glucagon | A protein hormone secreted by pancreatic endocrine cells that raises blood glucose levels; an antagonistic hormone to insulin. |
| Glucose Tolerance Test | A test of the body’s ability to metabolize glucose that involves the administration of a measured dose of glucose to the fasting stomach and the determination of blood glucose levels in the blood or urine at intervals thereafter and that is used especially to detect diabetes. |
| Homeostasis | The maintenance of relatively stable internal physiological conditions (as body temperature or the pH of blood) in higher animals under fluctuating environmental conditions. |
| Hormone | A product of living cells that circulates in blood and produces a specific, often stimulatory, effect on the activity of cells that are often far from the source of the hormone. |
| Insulin | A protein hormone secreted by the pancreas that is essential for the metabolism of carbohydrates and the regulation of glucose levels in the blood. |
| Negative Feedback | A primary mechanism of homeostasis, whereby a change in a physiological variable that is being monitored triggers a response that counteracts the initial fluctuation. |
| Positive Feedback | Feedback that tends to magnify a process or increase its output. |
| Type 1 Diabetes | Diabetes of a form that usually develops during childhood or adolescence and is characterized by a severe deficiency of insulin, leading to high blood glucose levels. |
| Type 2 Diabetes | Diabetes of a form that develops especially in adults and most often obese individuals and that is characterized by high blood glucose resulting from impaired insulin utilization coupled with the body’s inability to compensate with increased insulin production. |
| Adenosine tri-phosphate (ATP) | A compound composed of adenosine and three phosphate groups that supplies energy for many biochemical cellular processes by undergoing enzymatic hydrolysis. |
| Amino Acid | An organic monomer which serves as a building block of proteins. |
| Calorie | The amount of heat energy required to raise the temperature of 1 g of water by 1°C; also the amount of heat energy that 1 g of water releases when it cools by 1°C. The Calorie (with a capital C), usually used to indicate the energy content of food, is a kilocalorie. |
| Carbohydrate | A sugar in the form of a monosaccharide, disaccharide or polysaccharide. |
| Chemical Bond | An attractive force that holds together the atoms, ions, or groups of atoms in a molecule or compound. |
| Chemical Indicator | A substance (as a dye) used to show visually usually by its capacity for color change, the condition of a solution with respect to the presence of free acid or alkali or some other substance. |
| Chemical Reaction | Chemical transformation or change; the interaction of chemical entities. |
| Compound | A substance consisting of two or more elements in a fixed ratio. |
| Covalent bond | A type of strong chemical bond in which two atoms share one or more pairs of valence electrons. |
| Dehydration Synthesis | A chemical reaction in which two molecules are bonded together with the removal of a water molecule. |
| Disaccharide | A double sugar molecule made of two monosaccharides bonded together through dehydration synthesis. |
| Element | The smallest particle of a substance that retains all the properties of the substance and is composed of one or more atoms. |
| Glucose | A monomer of carbohydrate, simple sugar. |
| Homeostasis | The maintenance of relatively stable internal physiological conditions (as body temperature or the pH of blood) in higher animals under fluctuating environmental conditions. |
| Hydrolysis | A chemical process that splits a molecule by adding water. |
| Ionic bond | A chemical bond resulting from the attraction between oppositely charged ions. |
| Lipid | One of a family of compounds including fats, phospholipids, and steroids that is insoluble in water. |
| Macromolecule | A type of giant molecule formed by joining smaller molecules which includes proteins, polysaccharides, lipids, and nucleic acids. |
| Molecule | Two or more atoms held together by covalent bonds. |
| Monomer | The subunit that serves as the building block of a polymer. |
| Monosaccharide | A single sugar molecule such as glucose or fructose, the simplest type of sugar. |
| Nutrient | A substance that is needed by the body to maintain life and health. |
| Polymer | A large molecule consisting of many repeating chemical units or molecules linked together. |
| Polysaccharide | A polymer of thousands of simple sugars formed by dehydration synthesis. |
| Protein | A three dimensional polymer made of monomers of amino acids. |
| Hemoglobin A1c | A test that measures the level of hemoglobin A1c in the blood as a means of determining the average blood sugar concentrations for the preceding two to three months. |
| Hyperglycemia | An excess of sugar in the blood. |
| Hypertonic | In comparing two solutions, referring to the one with a greater solute concentration. |
| Hypoglycemia | Abnormal decrease of sugar in the blood. |
| Hypotonic | In comparing two solutions, referring to the one with a lower solute concentration. |
| Isotonic | Having the same solute concentration as another solution. |
| Osmosis | The movement of water across a selectively permeable membrane from an area of higher concentration to an area of lower concentration. |
| Solute | A substance that is dissolved in a solution. |
| Solution | A liquid that is a homogeneous mixture of two or more substances. |
| Solvent | The dissolving agent of a solution. Water is the most versatile solvent known. |
