Glucagon is a natural human hormone. It is a kind of anti-insulin that will increase blood sugars, whereas insulin will reduce them. It is interesting that glucagon is actually produced in the pancreas, where insulin comes from. However, diabetes does not usually damage the glucagon part of the pancreas, and diabetics also have glucagon in their body.
Glucagon works by stimulating the liver to rapidly produce glucose from inside the body. The liver has a storage area for glucose and can produce sugar. In fact, a non-diabetic's liver will already produce this glucose when blood sugars go low, but a diabetic may have difficult either because of "hypoglycemia unawareness" (where the liver does not respond normally), or simply because there is far too much insulin in the blood because the diabetic took too much medication. Glucagon will make the liver produce lots of sugar quickly.
Glucagon: A hormone produced by the pancreas that increases the level of glucose (sugar) in the blood.
Source: National Institute of Health
Glucagon: A pancreatic hormone consisting of 29 amino acids that causes increases in blood sugar levels by stimulating hepatic glycogenolysis and gluconeogenesis.
Source: Diseases Database
Glucagon : pancreatic hormone secreted by the alpha cells of the pancreatic islets; a 29-amino acid straight chain polypeptide that plays an important role in regulation of blood glucose concentration, ketone metabolism, and several other biochemical and physiological processes.
Source: CRISP
Glucagon: Hormone produced by the pancreas (see also insulin).
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