In the last two weeks, we have been learning about type one and type two diabetes, and a bit about oxytocin.
Starting off with diabetes, type one diabetes is the worst form of diabetes. Type one diabetes effects mainly younger people. When someone has type one diabetes it means that the beta cells are destroyed and the levels of glucose in the person’s blood is too high. Someone with type one diabetes needs to have insulin injected in them every so often (around twice a day), to insure that the glucose levels don’t get too high. Someone with type one diabetes also needs to watch their diet closely.
The other form of diabetes is type two (diabetes). Type two diabetes mainly affects overweight and older people. Someone with type two diabetes has an impaired insulin secretion, insulin resistance and their level of glucose in the blood is too high. What that means is that the body (pancreas) of someone with type two diabetes can make insulin properly (unlike someone with type one diabetes), however either that person’s pancreas doesn’t make enough insulin to keep the glucose level stable, or the body can’t use the insulin well enough. Just like people with type one diabetes, people with type two also need to monitor their diet closely.
For a long while, there wasn’t any form of treatment for type one diabetes. However around the 20th century, a Canadian scientist, by the name of Frederick Banting, decided that he would remove the pancreas of a dog, since that’s where diabetes is effected, and see what happens. To do this he needed financial support, which he got, by a Canadian biochemist, McCloud. Banting was also assisted by Best, a scientist.
After they extracted the pancreas from the dog, the blood sugar of the dog rose, the dog became more thirsty, it drank a lot of water, urinated more often, and all in all, the dog became much more weaker. In conclusion, they found out that the dog had developed diabetes. The scientists managed to save the dog though! To save the dog, the scientists injected a healthy version of the extracted pancreas (also known as insulin). This causes the previous effects on the dog to be reversed, meaning it became stronger, the blood sugar stayed level and it wasn’t as thirsty as it was before. To keep the dog healthy, and to insure that the previous effects wouldn’t return, they needed to continue to inject the dog with insulin everyday.
Banting and McCloud then won the noble prize to figuring out a treatment for type one diabetes.
In class we had to do a article about the history of diabetes. This is my article:
After learning about diabetes, we began to talk a bit about oxytocin. Oxytocin is a hormone, that is made in the brain, in the hypothalamus and it gets transported to the pituitary gland. The release of oxytocin acts to regulate two female reproductive functions: childbirth and breast-feeding. Oxytocin is an important hormone for milk ejection. Its release is stimulated by seeing or hearing a stimulus, for example, the most intense release is triggered by the baby suckling on the mother’s breast. The first release is within a minute of suckling and continuously releases in spurts. It peaks and levels off about every six to ten minutes after nipple stimulation has stopped.
Starting off with diabetes, type one diabetes is the worst form of diabetes. Type one diabetes effects mainly younger people. When someone has type one diabetes it means that the beta cells are destroyed and the levels of glucose in the person’s blood is too high. Someone with type one diabetes needs to have insulin injected in them every so often (around twice a day), to insure that the glucose levels don’t get too high. Someone with type one diabetes also needs to watch their diet closely.
The other form of diabetes is type two (diabetes). Type two diabetes mainly affects overweight and older people. Someone with type two diabetes has an impaired insulin secretion, insulin resistance and their level of glucose in the blood is too high. What that means is that the body (pancreas) of someone with type two diabetes can make insulin properly (unlike someone with type one diabetes), however either that person’s pancreas doesn’t make enough insulin to keep the glucose level stable, or the body can’t use the insulin well enough. Just like people with type one diabetes, people with type two also need to monitor their diet closely.
For a long while, there wasn’t any form of treatment for type one diabetes. However around the 20th century, a Canadian scientist, by the name of Frederick Banting, decided that he would remove the pancreas of a dog, since that’s where diabetes is effected, and see what happens. To do this he needed financial support, which he got, by a Canadian biochemist, McCloud. Banting was also assisted by Best, a scientist.
After they extracted the pancreas from the dog, the blood sugar of the dog rose, the dog became more thirsty, it drank a lot of water, urinated more often, and all in all, the dog became much more weaker. In conclusion, they found out that the dog had developed diabetes. The scientists managed to save the dog though! To save the dog, the scientists injected a healthy version of the extracted pancreas (also known as insulin). This causes the previous effects on the dog to be reversed, meaning it became stronger, the blood sugar stayed level and it wasn’t as thirsty as it was before. To keep the dog healthy, and to insure that the previous effects wouldn’t return, they needed to continue to inject the dog with insulin everyday.
Banting and McCloud then won the noble prize to figuring out a treatment for type one diabetes.
In class we had to do a article about the history of diabetes. This is my article:
History of Diabetes
Diabetes mellitus was found around the Egyptian time. For a long period of time it was known as a disease of the kidneys from around the 19th century. It was recognized by it's excessive amount of urine output. Observations were made by Areteus of Cappadocia, which show that it effects the kidneys. Someone took their urine and tasted it, which helped them tell if they had type one diabetes or not. This person who tested their urine in 1674, recognized that the urine had a sweet taste to it, which is how diabetes mellitus got it's name (diabetes meaning 'to run through'; mellitus meaning 'sweet like honey'). The sweet taste of the urine was caused because of the high glucose levels in the blood.
For a long period of time no one was able to find a treatment. In 1869 a German medical student, Paul Langerhans, found out that in the tissues of the pancreas produces digestive juices in a cell with an unknown function. These cells were found to be the beta cells, which produce insulin.
In 1923, Banting, a Canadian scientist, decide to try to extract the pancreas of a dog to see what would happen to that dog- would this dog get diabetes or not? Banting was supported by another Canadian biochemist, McCloud, and was assisted by a scientist by the last name of Best.
What they did was extract the pancreas of a dog. The removal of the pancreas caused it's blood sugar to rise and caused the dog to become weaker and weaker. Due to the removal of the pancreas, the dog got diabetes. They continued to try this on other dogs, and the same thing happened. What they then did was sliced up the pancreas into pieces and froze all the pieces in water and salt. After the pieces were half frozen, they were filtered, which then produced 'isletin'. The extract was injected back into a diabetic dog, and they observed that the blood glucose levels dropped and the dog became healthier once again. They gave the diabetic dog injections everyday to keep its blood glucose level stable, and the dog remained healthy and happy.
In 1922, a 14 year old Canadian boy by the name of Leonard Thompson, was the first human being tested on with the insulin. Luckily, the test was very successful.
Due to the success of finding out how to treat type one diabetes, Banting and McCloud were rewarded a noble prize in Medicine and Physiology in 1923.
After learning about diabetes, we began to talk a bit about oxytocin. Oxytocin is a hormone, that is made in the brain, in the hypothalamus and it gets transported to the pituitary gland. The release of oxytocin acts to regulate two female reproductive functions: childbirth and breast-feeding. Oxytocin is an important hormone for milk ejection. Its release is stimulated by seeing or hearing a stimulus, for example, the most intense release is triggered by the baby suckling on the mother’s breast. The first release is within a minute of suckling and continuously releases in spurts. It peaks and levels off about every six to ten minutes after nipple stimulation has stopped.
Sources of images:
http://www.mchip.net/sites/default/files/mchipfiles/Oxytocin%20reflex.JPG
http://projects.cbe.ab.ca/Diefenbaker/Biology/Bio%20Website%20Final/notes/reproductive/Image72.gif
- Katrina Dombovári
