DH+homework,test

Diabetes Article

Answer these questions:

//What are the key players in Diabetes? Why?// -The key players in Diabetes are the pancreas, the liver, muscle and fat. -Pancreas: the pancreas produces insulin, and insulin helps regulate the blood sugar. if the pancreas is not functioning properly, then there is a high risk that you could have diabetes -Liver: the liver cleanses the body and the blood. the liver takes out extra sugar in the blood. if the liver isn't working properly, that either means that there is too much sugar in the blood, or that the pathways (amino acids/proteins) are not coding for the sugar

//What are the unexpected key players in Diabetes? Why? -//-Muscle: glucose is stored in the walls of muscle. muscles need to be in shape in order to be able to fully take in and absorb the glucose -Fat: there is sugar in fat, and the fat in our bodies is made up of sugar. it is good to have natural sugars in our fat (from fruits), but bad sugars (processed foods such as chips, sodas, etc.) -These are unexpected to me, because i didn't think that they played a role in diabetes. //Explain the connection between bones and fat? -//The author says that "We hypothesized that if fat regulates bone, bone in essence must regulate fat". //Explain the connection between bones and the pancreas? -//Scientists did a test on lab rats and they found that there is a substance called osteocalcin that is produced by the bones that "acted by signaling fat cells as well as the pancreas" //Explain the connection between the brain and diabetes.// -And several recent papers suggest that direct signaling by glucose itself to neurons in the hypothalamus is also crucial to normal blood sugar regulation in mice. “If the brain is getting the message that you have adequate amounts of these hormones and nutrients, it will constrain glucose production by the liver and keep blood glucose relatively low,” said Dr. Michael W. Schwartz, a professor at the University of Washington. But if the brain senses inadequate amounts, he continued, it will “activate responses that cause the liver to make more glucose, and new evidence suggests that this contributes to diabetes and impaired glucose metabolism.” The brain, therefore, appears to be listening to — and weighing and making sense of — a chorus of signals from insulin, leptin, free fatty acids and glucose itself.

//Explain the connection between the immune system and diabetes? -//Mounting evidence also demonstrates that signals from the immune system, the brain and the gut play critical roles in controlling glucose and lipid metabolism. (The findings are mainly relevant to Type 2 diabetes, the more common kind, which comes on in adulthood.) Focusing on the cross-talk between more different organs, cells and molecules represents a “very important change in our paradigm” for understanding how the body handles glucose, said Dr. C. Ronald Kahn, a diabetes researcher and professor at Harvard Medical School.

//Now summarize the article in a paragraph.//

Basically, this article explains how not only diet and weight affect whether or not someone has diabetes. There are many other reasons behind someone having diabetes, and some include brain problems, muscle problems, and even immune system problems.