Dolphins May Help In Finding A Cure For D

Dolphins May Help In Finding a Cure For Diabetes By Aliza Cohen, Raina Milling and Irena Mullen-Menard

Bottlenose Dolphins go into diabetic state while they fast overnight, causing them to have higher levels of glucose in their blood.

Knowing this, scientists think dolphins may be helpful in finding a cure for Diabetes.

What usually works as a fast glucose fix for most animals is carbohydrates.
However, dolphins have a different diet where they mostly eat a lot of protein and not as much glucose-rich carbs.
This is considered a "diabetic switch" which can keep the dolphins brains "well-fed" even when they have not eaten for a while.
Could this help us with humans?

The diabetic state dolphins go into could be controlled by the "switch"
Someone with type 2 diabetes that is resistant to insulin has high levels of glucose.
The insulin is what tells the body to absorb glucose from blood.
Dolphins do not have this problem because they need a high level of glucose so their brains can function in between meals.

Some studies show that this "insulin resistance" that dolphins have can be bad
It can make the dolphins have an out-of-control form of diabetes
Scientists studied six dolphins to test their insulin levels after they eat
They found that after dolphins fast over night, they have changes in their glucose level

What scientists believe now.
Now Scientists believe that their may be a switch in humans, like dolphins
Humans and dolphins are very different, but we both have big brains and large blood cells which carry glucose
Scientists hope to find this switch in humans, because it could become a potential cure to diabetes

Acknowledgments
http://www.sciencenews.org/view/generic/id/56441/title/Dolphins_may_offer_clues_to_treating_diabetes-our article
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Insulin-where we got the definition of insulin
http://www.everyjoe.com/articles/files/2008/04/2-dolphins.jpg-where we got the picture of the dolphin

Dolphins May Help In Finding A Cure For D

by guestc52331 on Feb 21, 2010

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Dolphins May Help In Finding A Cure For D — Presentation Transcript