What is glucose?

What Does glucose Mean

In order to know the meaning of the term glucose, it is necessary, first of all, to discover its etymological origin. In this case, we can say that it is a word that derives from Greek and that it was formed from the sum of two lexical components of that language:

-The noun “gleukos”, which can be translated as “sweet wine”.

-The suffix "-osa", which is used in chemistry to give a name to what sugars are.

Likewise, it is important to know that glucose is a neologism that was formed by the French scientist Jean Baptiste Dumas (1800 - 1884). However, it should be noted that the rest of his colleagues from the Academy of Sciences also played an essential role in that name, including chemists such as Jean Baptiste Biot or Gay Lusac, among others.
This is the name of a sugar found in various fruits.
A sugar is a substance that is part of the set of carbohydrates , also called carbohydrates or carbohydrates . Because it is a sugar whose decomposition into a simpler one by hydrolysis is not possible, glucose is a monosaccharide . On the other hand, having six carbon atoms and having an aldehyde functional group, it is an aldohexose .

Glucose, in short, is a sugar, a monosaccharide and an aldohexose. This substance, white in color and sweet in taste, is soluble in water .
Through the oxidation of glucose, various energy- providing compounds are produced . Therefore, when we eat foods with glucose, the body absorbs sugar and transforms it into energy thanks to metabolic activity.
While plants can synthesize glucose through photosynthesis , animals and humans must obtain glucose from other living beings or synthesize it from other organic compounds. It is important to mention that glucose, whether combined or free, is the organic compound that is found in greater abundance in nature.
According to the amount of sugar present in the body, the level of sugar in the blood is determined (known as glycemia ). There is a blood sugar level that is normal: deviations from these values ​​can reveal the presence of diabetes or other disorders.
In order to maintain adequate blood glucose levels, the body makes use of two hormones that are produced by the pancreas, such as glucagon and insulin.
Sometimes, there are people who suffer what is known as a drop in glucose, for example after having done an important physical activity. In that case, they will know that they are suffering from this situation because they will have symptoms such as paleness, palpitations, irritability, tingling in the hands, tremors, excessive sweating ... What's more, they may even have drowsiness, blurred vision, headache or confusion.

In that case, what you should do is eat or drink something that contains sugar and wait ten minutes for that element to act. The usual thing is that the person recovers, if not, they will have to go to a medical center.

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