AnthonyPulido

ENGW
Unit1Draft2
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APA
TheLimitedInsightintoDiabetesResearch
Sciencehasalwaysengagedandintriguedme,andmorespecifically,Ivealways
beenparticularlyinterestedinlearningmoreaboutdiabetesmellitusandrelatedresearch.
Manypeoplefindtheirpassionthroughtheexperiencesthathaveimpactedthem.Formy
friendsinthesciences,sometimestheyfocusonmedicalillnessesordiseasesthatmay
haveimpactedafriendorafamilymember.Mygrandfatherlivedalargeportionofhis
lifewithdiabetes,andatanearlyage,hisconditionfuelledmypassionforhealthand
medicine.Ivealwayshadasweettooth,sowhenIwouldeattoomuchcandy,my
parentswouldscoldme,tellingmeIwasatrisktohavediabetes,aswell.Well,thenI
hadtoask,ifImatriskfordiabetes,thenwhyisntDaddiabetic,andhowdoesanyone
getdiabetesinthefirstplace?Inoneway,Ijustwantedanexcusetokeepeatingcandy,
butinanotherway,Iwasactuallycurious.
Fortunately,IvegrownupintheInternetgeneration,andansweredenoughofthe
basicquestionsformyself.Diabetesmellitusisametabolicdisorderrelatedtothe
receptionandproductionofinsulin.Insulinisahormonethatinducestheuptakeof
glucoseinthecell,whichthecellmetabolizesforenergy.Type1Diabetesisless
common,andoccurswhenthebodydoesntproduceinsulin,whileType2Diabetes
occurswhenthebodyhasincreasedinsulinresistance.Ivehadafewopportunitiesto

learnmoreaboutdiabetes.MysenioryearofhighschoolImadeapresentationonthe
historyofinsulinasadrug.MyfreshmanyearatNortheastern,Imadeapresentationon
anarticlestudyingthepossiblecorrelationbetweeninsulinresistanceandAlzheimersin
nondiabeticpatients.Afterstudyingthearticleonthecorrelationofinsulinresistance
andthebrain,myalluretotheconnectionsbetweeninsulinresistanceandneurological
effectsledmetoBanuBoyuksstudy,RelationshipbetweenLevelsofBrainDerived
NeurotrophicFactorandMetabolicParametersinPatientswithType2Diabetes
Mellitus[Boyuketal].
WhenIexplaindiabetestosciencemajors,Iassumetheyhavesomebackground
knowledgeonthetopic.Afterlivingwithabusinessmajor,acomputersciencemajor,
andajournalismmajor,IrealizedtheywerelimitedintheirunderstandingIwas
remindedthatthegeneralpublicmightnotknowexactlywhatImtalkingaboutwhen
discussingsomeofthescienceIvelearned.Thetextisdirectedtowardthescientific
communityandmakesalotofassumptionsonthereadersknowledge.Thisisascholarly
articleexpressingitsargumentinaprofessionaltone.Thetextmakesmanyassumptions
thatthereaderunderstandssomeoftheterminology,suchashypoglycemia(lowblood
sugar).Thetextexpectsitsaudiencetohaveenoughstatisticalknowledgetounderstand
someoftheresultsthatarenotarenotexplained.EvenasathirdyearBiochemistry
major,Istillhadtolookfurtherintotheresultstounderstandthem.Thetextalsoassumes
thatthepublishedresearchonthesubjectaccuratelysupportstheirhypotheses,and
researchtomaketheirownfurtherassumptionsbasedontheirresearch.Thisalsomeans

thetextassumesthepublisherofthearticle,HindawiPublishingCorporation,theJournal
ofDiabetesResearch,andthejournalsthatpublishedthearticlescited,arereliable.
Thearticlescited,arguedthatincreasedbrainderivedneurotrophicfactor(BDNF)
inducehypophagia(reducedappetiteandconsumption)andhypoglycemiainanimals
withhyperglycemia[Boyuketal].Thepurposeoftheirexperimentwastotesttoseeif
thereisanycorrelationbetweenBDNFlevelsandmetabolicparametersinpatientswith
Type2diabetesmellitus.Theyincluded88T2DMpatients(38malesand50females)and
33controls(17malesand16females)whowerenotdiabeticandobtainedtheirblood
samples.Theyaskedfortheirage,andtestedtheirBMI,waistcircumference,systolic
pressure(mmHg),diastolicpressure(mmHg),BDNF(pg/mL),fastingbloodglucose
(mg/dL),fastinginsulin(uU/mL),HOMAIR,HbA1c(%),triglyceride(mg/dL),total
cholesterol(mg/dL),LDL(mg/dL),HDL(mg/dL),CRP(mg/L),ESR(mm/hr),white
bloodcellcount(x10^3/uL),Ferritin(ng/mL),andCreatinineclearance(mL/min).They
alsoaskediftheyweretakingoralantidiabeticdrugs,Oralantidiabeticdrugsplusinsulin,
insulin,antihypertensiondrugs,antilipiddrugs,andiftheyhadanysmokinghistory.
TheyrealizedthattherewasahigherlevelofBDNFinpatientswithType2diabetes,but
theresultswerenotconsistent.TheBDNFlevelscouldbeusedtopredictwhetherornot
apatienthadType2diabeteswithaBDNFpredictivevalueof137pg/mL,butthetext
proposedincreasingthevalue.ItwasalsouncleariftheType2patientshadincreased
BDNFlevelstocompensateforhighbloodsugarlevels[Boyuketal].
Theresultsofthisexperimenthighlightthemajordisputeintheknowledgefront
focusedonType2diabetesmellitus,insulin,andmetabolismresearch.Thereisno

specificcauseofdiabetesthatcanbepinpointed.Manyscientistsbelievethecauseof
diabetesismultifaceted,havinganumberofpossiblecausesthat,together,causeType1
orType2diabetes.Eveninthistextanarticlewascitedwithcontradictoryresults,saying
BDNFlevelsweresignificantlylowerinpatientswithType2diabetes.These
correlationsareindependentofage,BMI,andCRP.Meanwhile,thereareanumberof
studiesthatcorrelateinsulinresistanceandType2diabetestootherfactors.Thereare
studiescorrelatingepigeneticfactorsofpoordietaryhabitsinmicecausingType1
diabetestwogenerationslater.
Tracingbacktomyoriginalquestion,whatcausesdiabetes?Theresnosingular
causethatcanbeseparatedfromtherest.Manypeoplebelievethereareanumberof
geneticcausescorrelatedwithoneanothertocausediabetesinpatients.Othersbelieve
thereareepigeneticcausessuchastheBDNFconcentration,ordietinprevious
generations.IfIhadunlimitedtimeandresources,Iwouldlovetopursueallthepossible
anglesfromwhichstudieshaveshownimpactsondiabetes,metabolism,insulin,or
insulinresistance.IfIcouldlookintothecorrelationtocognitivefunctionandchangein
brainchemistryinpatientswithdiabetes,Iwouldbeveryintriguedtofindoutwhatelse
couldbeimpactedbymetabolicchanges.Hopefully,Icancontributetotheconversations
andstudiesondiabetes,whichremainunclearandunspecific.

Citation

Boyuketal.Oralantidiabeticdrug,Oralantidiabeticdrugplusinsulin,insulin,
antihypertension,antilipid,andsmokinghistory.JournalofDiabetesResearch.Volume
2014(2014),ArticleID978143.http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2014/978143

Acknowledgements
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