Diabetes Mellitus Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Diabetes Mellitus - Research Paper Example It is worth beginning by describing the role of insulin when the body is functioning normally. When a person eats, the levels of glucose in their blood increase, as foods, and especially carbohydrates, are digested. Glucose is the main source of energy in the body, but must undergo metabolic processes in cells to produce this energy. Among the body’s homeostatic systems – the mechanisms for keeping conditions in the body within a given, safe range – is a system for controlling insulin levels, by removing or adding it from the bloodstream. Key to this process is the hormone insulin, produced by the beta cells in the islets of Langerhans in the pancreas. When the blood glucose level rises after eating, the pancreas secretes insulin into the blood. This stimulates the cells of the liver to absorb the glucose from the blood, thus reducing the level of glucose in the blood. Diabetes takes two main forms, generally known as Type 1, or insulin dependent Diabetes Mellitus and Type 2, or non-insulin dependent Diabetes Mellitus. Type 1 Diabetes accounts for around 5-10% of cases; Type 2 for around 90-95% of cases. Type 1 Diabetes is an autoimmune disease. Such diseases occur when the mechanisms of the immune system – the body’s defences for dealing with infection and disease - damage parts of the body. This is a failure by the body to recognise some cells as parts of itself. In the case of Type 1 Diabetes, the body destroys its own beta cells in the pancreas – where insulin is produced. Therefore, when the glucose level in the blood rises, cells do not have sufficient energy for metabolism, which can leave the sufferer in a very dangerous situation. Suffers of Type 1 diabetes need to take insulin injections every day, in order to maintain normal blood glucose levels. The first insulin injections became available in 1921. Before this, pe ople who suffered from Type 1 Diabetes