BIOC 202 Lecture Notes - Lecture 1: Acetyl-Coa, Blood Sugar, Ketone Bodies
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However, ketone bodies can only meet up to 70% of the brain"s needs; the other 30% must be met by glucose: note: a ketone body is the acetyl unit of acetyl coa modified for transport in the blood. You can think of it as a way to transfer acetyl units from acetyl coa. Blood glucose should be around 5mm: blood [glucose] = hyperglycemia. Long term, hyperglycemia can lead to neurological, cv, renal, and vision damage. At very, very high glucose levels, an individual can lose consciousness acts as an osmole and pulls water out of the brain. Can lead to an individual becoming unconscious, brain damaged, and deaf. A very short term hypoglycemia (>1mm) for a few mins is okay, because the liver will restore blood glucose levels via glycogen breakdown/gluconeogenesis. If it"s left for a while, you can get into trouble.
