In a patient with diabetes who cannot produce insulin, what is a likely result after consuming sugar?

In a patient with diabetes who cannot produce insulin, consuming sugar leads to an immediate rise in blood sugar levels. Insulin is crucial for facilitating the uptake of glucose from the bloodstream into cells for energy. Without insulin, glucose remains in the blood, causing a significant increase in blood sugar levels.

After the consumption of sugar, the body cannot effectively manage the influx of glucose due to the lack of insulin production. Consequently, the blood glucose levels will rise rapidly and remain elevated until other mechanisms compensate, which may not occur effectively in individuals with diabetes. This is especially pertinent in the case of type 1 diabetes, where the body produces no insulin at all.

Understanding this mechanism helps clarify why the other options do not apply. For example, in healthy individuals or those with effective insulin production, sugar intake leads to a regulated blood sugar increase followed by a decrease due to insulin action. However, in this case, since insulin is absent, the blood sugar cannot decrease and remains elevated. Similarly, the patient will not experience unchanged blood sugar levels or hypoglycemia from sugar intake either, since the absence of insulin precludes the proper metabolism of glucose.