Can stem cell research provide a cure for diabetes?

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Can stem cell research provide a cure for diabetes?

Main Issue:        Diabetes

Secondary Issue:        The Use of Stem Cells as a potential treatment                                                                            Target Audience:        Readers of medical journals

Word count:2296        

Introduction:

Diabetes is a life long condition where the amount of glucose in the blood becomes too high and the body can not make proper use of it. This is because the pancreas can not produce insulin, produces not enough insulin or the amount of insulin produced does not work properly.

Glucose enters the body by digesting carbohydrate from various kinds of foods and drinks, including foods such as breads, rice and potatoes, fruit, some dairy products, sugar and other sweet foods. Glucose is also produced by the liver. Insulin (a hormone produced by the pancreas) is required for the uptake of glucose by cells, which can be used for energy release in cells.

There are two main types of diabetes

  • Type I
  • Type II

What happens in diabetes?

After we eat, various foods are broken down into sugars in the gut. The main sugar is called glucose. This is absorbed through the gut wall into the bloodstream.

When your blood glucose begins to rise (after eating), the level of insulin should also rise. Insulin acts on the cells of your body and makes them take glucose into the cells from the bloodstream. Some of the glucose is used by the cells for energy, and some is converted into glycogen or fat (which are stores of energy). When the blood glucose level begins to fall (between meals, or when we have no food), the level of insulin falls. Some glycogen or fat is then broken down back into glucose and some is released back into the bloodstream to keep the blood glucose level normal.

Hormones such as insulin are chemicals that are released into the bloodstream and have an action on certain parts of the body. Insulin is made by special cells called beta cells which are part of little 'islands' of cells (islets) within the pancreas.

Diabetes develops if you do not make enough insulin, or if the insulin that you do make does not work properly on the body's cells

Type I

Type2

Symptoms of diabetes

The signs and symptoms of diabetes are:

Causes

Both type 1 and type 2 diabetes are preliminary inherited. Type 1 diabetes is also triggered by certain infections.

Lifestyle

Type 2 diabetes can develop with a bad lifestyle. Increased amounts of saturated fats in diet can lead to obesity.

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Obesity has been rising, as shown above, for the last decade, at least. Studies have shown that an increase in body fat is linked to glucose intolerance (type 2 diabetes) by suppressing the signals sent by insulin receptors (i.e. it is not telling the body it needs insulin).

Of course, obesity is not the only cause of type 2 diabetes, but it really is a main contributor. There will still be those who develop diabetes because they have a genetic predisposition to it, even if they are healthy and active. The obesity epidemic should not only be ...

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