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Type 1 Diabetes Research Paper

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According to the World Health Organization, 171 million people around the globe have diabetes, and by 2030, that number will have doubled. Diabetes is a change in the body’s relationship to sugar, specifically glucose. When the body breaks down carbohydrates in food, glucose is produced. Glucose is necessary for the brain to make proteins and also is used to make energy when needed. This is why many people before a marathon will eat a big pasta meal the night before, also known as “carbo-loading.” Insulin, which is a hormone produced in the pancreas, helps the body store glucose in the liver, muscles, and fat cells to be converted into bodily fuel as necessary. With a person who is diabetic, the process where insulin helps the body use glucose …show more content…

Some researchers of diabetes believe that Type 1 diabetes is an autoimmune disease wherein the body’s immune system identifies certain cells incorrectly as outside invaders and sets out to destroy them. Those cells happen to be the beta cells in the Pancreas, which are responsible for the production of insulin. Without insulin, the body is not able to refine glucose. There is also a third type of diabetes known as gestational diabetes, occurring only in pregnant women. In fact, 100,000 expectant mothers a year develop this type of diabetes, which usually resolves itself after pregnancy. Some scientists believe that gestational diabetes is triggered by a hungry fetus with a craving for glucose. Gestational diabetes causes macrosomia, aka chubby babies, because the extra glucose in the blood feeds the …show more content…

Type 1 is partly triggered by a virus or environmental stimulus. For Type 2, it is caused by lack of exercise or poor eating habits which may result in obesity. However, both types have big differences in prevalence in regards to geographic origin. Although Type 2 has a stronger genetic component, it is also more closely related to lifestyle, 85% of people with Type 2 are obese. Type 1 is much more common in people of Northern European descent. If one traveled from Northern Europe to Africa, the Caribbean, and even Asia, the prevalence rate drops so significantly, that Type 1 is downright uncommon in the aforementioned places while in Northern Europe it is very common. This is probably because diabetes came into existence to help people in Europe survive the cold and rapid onset of an ice

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