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When did you last refill your glucagon prescription?

April 17 - 24, 2019

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When did you last refill your glucagon prescription?
Within the last year
76%
19
Within the last two years
8%
2
More than two years ago
12%
3
I do not have a glucagon prescription
4%
1
I don't know what glucagon is
0%
0

Glucagon is a hormone that raises the level of glucose in the blood. The alpha cells of the pancreas, in areas called the islets of Langerhans, make glucagon when the body needs to put more sugar into the blood.

Everyone who uses insulin should have a Glucagon Emergency Kit on hand at all times to counteract severe hypoglycemia that causes loss of consciousness, or if sugar cannot be given. Kids should also have a glucagon kit at school.

Old glucagon kits can be used to practice the process of injecting the diluent into the vial, mixing, and withdrawing the fluid, and with the recent approval of shelf-stable glucagon and nasal glucagon, administering a glucagon dose has gotten even easier.

A study published in Diabetes Care in 2001 entitled Mini-Dose Glucagon Rescue for Hypoglycemia reported that small doses of glucagon are effective in staving off hypoglycemia in kids who cannot eat due to illness.

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