This article is based on an expert interview with Damaris Vega, MD, conducted by wikiHow Staff Editors. Dr. Damaris Vega is a board certified Endocrinologist. She graduated Magna Cum Laude from the Pontifical Catholic University of Puerto Rico with a BS in General Science and subsequently earned an MD from the Ponce School of Medicine, Ponce, PR. During medical school, Dr. Vega served as president of the Alpha Omega Alpha Medical Honor Society and was selected as her school's representative for the American Association of Medical Colleges. She then completed a residency in Internal Medicine and a fellowship in Endocrinology, Diabetes, Mineral, and Metabolism at The University of Texas Southwestern Medical School. Dr. Vega has been recognized for excellent patient care multiple times by the National Committee for Quality Assurance and received the Patients' Choice Award in 2008, 2009, and 2015. She is a fellow of the American College of Clinical Endocrinologists and is an active member of the American Association of Clinical Endocrinologists, the American Diabetes Association, and the Endocrine Society. Dr. Vega is also the founder and CEO of Houston Endocrinology Center as well as a principal investigator for multiple clinical trials at Juno Research, LLC.
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Glucagon can be a literal lifesaver for people with diabetes, but it’s important that it’s administered at the right time and in the right way. If you’re not sure exactly how or when glucagon should be used, don’t worry. In this video, Endocrinologist Damaris Vega explains when you should be administering glucagon, the different ways it can be administered, and why it’s so important to have some on hand if you’re diabetic.
So basically glucagon is the hormone that balances out the insulin. So when the body is under stress, you know, if you're exercising, if you're sick, your body needs more glucose for energy or to heal the disease. So, you know, a normal person has that glucagon to produce glucose at the level of the liver to prevent hypoglycemia. Well, in type one diabetics, as well as type two diabetics that are on insulin or hypoglycemic medications, they're obviously at high risk of having hypoglycemic events because of these medications. So they have to be carrying glucagon with them. Glucagon is a lifesaver. Basically, if they have an episode of hypoglycemia and they can’t respond to it, meaning that they can’t like go and grab something, to eat something, to drink immediately, and they’ll pass out, they need this hormone to be able to bring the glucose levels up, and not having to, you know, call 911 having to be rushed to the hospital. And as a matter of fact, I want to show it to you. This is what a glucagon pen looks like. It sounds easy, but it's not. So the persons around you have to be able to know how to inject these because otherwise it will be useless. So luckily enough, we have now a nasal glucagon, which you just push and the glucose goes up. Because of the inhalation of the glucagon into your system it’s a much faster and much easier way for other people to be able to help you. But it's very important, and you know, unfortunately, physicians, we sometimes lack adding that prescription to our patients, but any diabetic that is on insulin or any medications that can cause hypoglycemia should have one of these with them all the time in my opinion.
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