Task 3 Flashcards
Type 1 Diabetes cause
Exact cause is unknown but likely involves genetic and environmental factors triggering the immune system. It occurs when the pancreas do not produce insulin
Type 1 diabetes symptoms
- Excessive thirst and passing more urine (increased glucose in blood leads to some glucose not being reabsorbed in kidneys)
- Lethargic/tired (No insulin leads to no cellular uptake of glucose, therefore no cellular respiration)
Type 1 diabetes treatment
- Daily insulin injections or using an insulin pump.
- Regular or continuous blood glucose monitoring
- Maintaining a healthy diet
- Gene therapy: Reprogram alpha cells to secrete insulin
- Humulin
Type 2 diabetes causes
- From a combination of genetic predisposition and lifestyle factors.
- Cells do not respond to insulin, typically due to lifestyle factors)
- Additional risk: Age, prior gestational diabetes, PCOS, having a large baby,
- Ethnicity: Aboriginal, TSI, Pacific islander, Indian, Chinese
Type 2 diabetes symptoms
- Slow healing cuts (WBC’s don’t get enough energy to heal
- Unexplained weight gain (people eat more and more)
Type 2 diabetes treatment
- Glucose lowering or insulin tablets
- Maintaining a healthy diet and exercise
-Regular blood pressure and cholesterol checks
Hyperthyroidism causes
- Occurs when the thyroid gland produces too much hormone (thyroxine)
- Although not inherited, there does seem to be a genetic predisposition for the condition.
Hyperthyroidism symptoms
- Rapid heart beat
- Weight loss
- Grave’s disease: Protruding eyeballs known as exophthalmia
Hyperthyroidism treatment
- Drugs that block the thyroid gland’s use of iodine
- Give the patient a drink containing radioactive iodine
- Surgery to remove some or all of the thyroid gland, which will result in less thyroxine being produced.
Hypothyroidism causes
- Occurs when there is too little thyroxine
- Caused either through problems with the thyroid, pituitary gland or hypothalamus
- Severe deficiency of iodine
- Most common cause is an attack on the thyroid gland by patient’s immune system (Hashimoto’s disease)
- Surgery for cancer of the thyroid (removal of all or a large part of the gland)
Hypothyroidism symptoms
- Slow heart rate
- Intolerance to cold
- Swelling of the face and goitre (enlargement of the thyroid gland)
Hypothyroidism treatment
- Inclusion of extra iodine in the diet
- Tablets containing thyroid hormone
- Levothyroxine
Alzheimer’s disease causes
Cause is unknown, however it becomes more common in older age.
Could be
- Lack of physical activity
- Obesity
- Smoking
Alzheimer’s disease symptoms
- Trouble remembering, recent events
- Repetition of same word
- Trouble planning, solving and thinking logically.
Alzheimer’s disease treatment
- No known cure
- Medications that may help slow the decline in memory and thinking
- Cell replacement therapy may replace damaged neurons and improve brain function
Parkinson’s disease causes
- No known cause
- Ageing
- Genetic changes
- Toxins
Parkinson’s disease symptoms
- Tremor or shaking at rest, usually one sided at first
- Muscle stiffness (rigidity) which can cause pain and affect posture
- Slowing of movement
Parkinson’s disease treatment
- No known cure but medicines
- Levodopa (dopamine precursor)
- Surgery
- COMT inhibitors increase amount of levodopa
- MAO-B inhibitors which help stop breakdown of dopamine
- Gene therapy increases dopamine production and stem cell therapy replaces damaged neurons
Producing synthetic hormones using Recombinant DNA technology
- Gene of interest isolated. Gene for insulin
- Isolate a plasmid (circular DNA) from a bacterium (vector)
- Cut the gene of interest using a restriction enzyme: This cut is staggered and produces sticky ends
- The bacterial plasmid is cut with the same restriction enzyme to also produce sticky ends
- The gene of interest is inserted into the cut plasmid using DNA ligase
- The recombinant plasmid is taken back up by the bacteria
- Bacteria are placed in a broth and replicate
- The bacteria are making insulin which is harvested and treated
- Humulin is produced
Which of the dysfunctions you have studied can be treated with synthetic hormones?
- Diabetes Type 1: Treated with recombinant human insulin (Humulin)
- Hypothyroidism: Treated with synthetic thyroxine (levothyroxine)
Benefits of using synthetic hormones produced in this way in comparison to traditional treatment methods.
- Produced in large quantities, limited supply from animal resources
- Much cheaper (modern methods
- No risk of disease transmission
Gene therapy
Aims to treat or cure genetic abnormalities by identifying faulty genes and inserting healthy ones.
Cell replacement therapy
Involves replacing damaged or lost cells with healthy ones, often using stem cells.
Which of the dysfunctions you have studied can be treated using gene or cell replacement therapy
- Parkinson’s disease: Gene therapy increases dopamine production and stem cell therapy replaces damaged neurons
- Type 1 diabetes: Gene therapy, will reprogram alpha cells to secrete insulin
- Alzheimer’s: Cell replacement therapy may replace damaged neurons and improve brain function
