Kristine Le. Diabetes Mellitus Type 1 . The Diabetes Quebec

Kristine Le Diabetes Mellitus Type 1 The Diabetes Quebec Association states that in the past, a diagnosis of diabetes meant certain death. This was held true until a Canadian physician, Frederick Banting, discovered the hormone insulin in 1921. He was able to isolate a unknown matter from the pancreas of a dog and inject it into another dogs pancreas s. This discovery enabled them to save the lives of these diabetic dogs. Through trial and error Banting was able to perfect the purification of insulin in order for it to be injected on a daily basis to compensate for the insulin not being produced by the pancreas to control the blood sugar in hyperglycemic patients. Diabetes mellitus is an inability of the body to catabolize glucose†¦show more content†¦This disease does not favor one gender over the other, it effects males and females equally. Currently, the origin of diabetes is a conundrum. Although, it is understood that the immune system attacks the beta cells but it is not clear how or why it occurs. It is hypothesized that T1D maybe hereditary and environmental factors contribute to the onset (5). Symptoms prevail in individuals whom have the majority of their beta cells destroyed via a cellular mediated autoimmune response (1). The insulin signaling cascade is initiated when insulin binds to insulin receptors located on the cell s surface. The insulin receptor has four subunits: two alpha subunits located on the outside of the cell and two transmembrane beta subunits (3 4). When insulin binds to the alpha subunit receptors, it transmits a signal across the plasma membrane and activates tyrosine residues that are attached to the beta subunits. The activation of the tyrosine residues causes it to autophosphorolate and then phosphorolate other proteins that also have tyrosine residues attached to them. These phosphorylated proteins then move on to trigger cellular responses such as translocation of GLUT4 vesicule to the cell membrane. The vesicule becomes a tr ansporter to allow glucose to come into the cell so that it can continue on and be stored as glycogen (3). A beta cell-specific autoimmune process is the beginning of the destruction of the beta cells that produce insulin.