14.4 Diabetes And Its Control

Question 1

Describe and explain Type 1 diabetes

Answer 1

• auto-immune disease, in which the body attacks and destroys the beta cells in the islets of Langerhans
• patients with type 1 are unable to produce insulin
• this condition normally begins in childhood, and people develop symptoms of disease quickly

Question 2

Describe and explain how type 1 diabetes is treated

Answer 2

• insulin therapy (regular insulin injections throughout the day)
• an insulin pump can be used instead where a machine continuously delivers insulin into the body via a tube
• pancreas transplant (ad: patient can lead heathy life, can eat more comfortably, longer life) (DISAD: immunosuppressant drugs needed which could deprive the body’s natural immune system from attacked pathogens and evading diseases)
• people with type 1 diabetes need to monitor their bgc and their diet, and level of activit

Question 3

Describe and explain type 2 diabetes

Answer 3

• occurs when the beta cells don’t produce enough insulin or when the body cells do not respond properly to insulin
• cells dont respond properly because the insulin receptors on their membranes don’t work properly, so the cells don’t take up enough glucose, so bgc is higher than normal
• type 2 is acquired later in life, often linked to obesity
  Could be genetic

Question 4

Describe and explain how type 2 diabetes is treated

Answer 4

• initially managed through lifestyle changes (e.g. eating a healthy, balanced diet, regular exercise)
• medication may be prescribed e.g. metformin (acts on liver cells to reduce the amount of glucose released into blood), sulfonylureas (stimulate the pancreas to produce more insulin)

Question 5

Describe ‘insulin from GM bacteria’

Answer 5

Human insulin can be made by genetically modified bacteria
Using GM bacteria to produce insulin is much better than extracting insulin from animals because:
- producing insulin from GM bacteria is cheaper than extracting it from animal pancreases
- larger quantities of insulin can be produced
- GM bacteria make human insulin rather than animal insulin, so its less likely to trigger an allergic response or be rejected by the immune system
- some people prefer insulin from GM bacteria for ethical or religious reasons (e.g. vegetarians disagree with extracting insulin with animals)

Question 6

Describe how stem cells can be used to cure diabetes

Answer 6

Stem cells are undifferentiated cells that have the ability to specialise into any type of cell

Stem cells could be implanted into the pancreas of a person with type 1 diabetes, where they would divide by mitosis and potentially differentiate into beta cells