Glucoregulatory Hormones in Health and Disease: A Teleologic Model

Abstract

A teleologic model, based upon currently available knowledge of the glucoregulatory hormones, insulin, glucagon and growth hormone, has been presented in an effort to simplify understanding of their physiologic importance. The approach employed in this conceptual “repackaging” stresses in evolutionary terms the contribution of these hormones to the solution of critical problems of energy storage and supply, which, in their absence, would block phylogenetic progress. Clinical disorders of glucoregulatory hormone secretion, both real and theoretical, are classified and briefly discussed.