APPLIED BIOLOGY

Applied Biology

Applied Biology

Question 1: Type 1 Diabetes (diabetes mellitus)

Most of our food turns into glucose, or sugar, for our bodies to use for energy. The pancreas, an organ that lies near the stomach, makes a hormone called insulin to help glucose get into the cells of our bodies. When people have diabetes, their body either doesn't make enough insulin or can't use its own insulin as well as it should. This causes sugars to build up in your blood. Diabetes can cause serious health complications including heart disease, blindness, kidney failure, and lower-extremity amputations. Diabetes is predicted by a clear set of symptoms, but it still often goes undiagnosed. Diabetes is becoming increasingly more common throughout the world, due obesity that leads to type 2 diabetes. There are over 2 million diabetic people in the UK.  

Type 1 Diabetes

In type 1 diabetes, the human body produces little bit or no insulin what so ever. A person with this kind type of diabetes needs treatment for the rest of the life. They must check the levels of glucose in their blood regularly and watch out for complications. Type 1 diabetes is also known as juvenile diabetes or early onset diabetes because it usually develops before the age of 40, often in the teenage years. Type 1, diabetes can be caused by a genetic disorder where the genetic code for the production of insulin is not present or there is a deficiency in the genetic coding. The reason why this occurs is a person may get a specific virus and when the white blood cells go to destroy it they also destroy any infection and cells, if there is no cells present any insulin can be secreted (Suzuki et al, 2007).

Treatment of Type 1 Diabetes

Lack of insulin production by the pancreas makes Type 1 diabetes particularly difficult to control. Treatment requires:

A carefully calculated diet,

Planned physical activity,

Home blood glucose testing several times a day,

Multiple daily insulin injections.

Symptoms of Diabetes

The symptoms of diabetes may develop very quickly (over the course of weeks or even days) in children. Where as adults over 40 years symptoms will develop very slowly (Selwitz RH, Pihlstrom BL, 2003).

Symptom checklist for type 1 diabetic:

Exceptional thirst

Dry mouth

Frequent urination

Loss of weight

Weakness or fatigue

Blurred vision

How can Diabetes be treated?

There are several different types of medicines that are used to treat diabetes. It may be necessary to take a combination of two, or more, of these medicines to control your blood glucose level (Suzuki et al, 2007):

Metformin: this is often the first medicine that is advised for type 2 diabetes. It mainly works by reducing the amount of glucose that your liver releases into the bloodstream.

Sulphonylureas: increase the amount of insulin produced by your pancreas. They also make your body's cells more sensitive to insulin so that more glucose is taken up from the blood.

Acarbose: this slows down the absorption of carbohydrate from the stomach and digestive tract, preventing a high peak in the blood glucose level after eating a ...