A hormone produced by the pancreas that raises blood sugar levels by triggering the liver to release stored glucose.
From Greek glukus meaning 'sweet' plus the suffix '-agon' (from agogos, 'leading'). Named because it leads glucose production in the body, coined by 20th-century biochemists.
Glucagon is literally the opposite of insulin—if insulin is the key that opens cells to store glucose, glucagon is the alarm bell that forces the liver to dump glucose back into your blood when you're running low.
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