Insulin can be deadly to humans
Scientists warn about the potential danger of insulin to human life. The researchers reached this conclusion after establishing the presence of insulin in the composition of the toxin of “cone” snails – perhaps the most poisonous animals on earth.
Insulin injections, which play a key role in the absorption of glucose from the blood, have saved many lives. However, scientists warn that in some cases this hormone can be extremely dangerous.
In particular, insulin was found in the composition of snails of the species “Conidae”, which are poisonous predators. Their poison is a deadly danger even to humans.
According to scientists, the excess amount of insulin contained in the venom of these snails, getting into the blood of the victim, causes a sharp drop in glucose levels in it, which causes shock and loss of consciousness. Thus, these predators paralyze their prey during hunting.
Scientists plan to continue their research in this direction.
In the past year, scientists from Harvard University managed to discover a possible way to treat type 1 diabetes patients.
They grew cells analogous to healthy pancreatic cells and thus gave hope to millions of people suffering from this incurable disease worldwide.
Perhaps it is not at all surprising that this breakthrough in medicine was made by scientists at Harvard University.
The team of researchers who conducted the study was led by Professor Doug Melton, who has devoted more than 20 years of his life to the search for a cure for type 1 diabetes. He began conducting research in this direction after such a diagnosis was placed on his young son.
The team of scientists led by him succeeded in cultivating and transplanting pancreatic-like cells that synthesize insulin. Moreover, these cells can carry out this process independently without additional stimulation.
Thus, people with this severe diagnosis can forever give up insulin injections, and the procedure for their placement is currently being performed almost daily. For this, it is enough to transplant insulin-producing cells into the body of diabetics.
Professor Melton reported that the research he is now conducting is in the phase of pre-clinical trials, when beta-cells are transplanted into the body of animals, including primates, whose DNA differs by only 1.5% from that of humans.
There is not much time left until the research is completed. And so far, the forecasts are reassuring – the cells transplanted into animals continue to synthesize insulin for several months.
In the autoimmune disease “diabetes mellitus type 1”, the cells of the pancreas stop secreting insulin, which is the hormone responsible for regulating glucose levels in the human body. organism. K
At the moment, for people with such a diagnosis, as already indicated, only one way out is available – the maintenance of glucose levels with the help of insulin injections.
And apart from the fact that they have to be inserted every day, the dose of insulin must be very precise, otherwise the manifestation of various complications is possible.
And although this disease is not as widespread as diabetes of the second type, in Great Britain alone it affects more than 400 thousand people, and the representatives of the younger generation are at greatest risk. And Bulgaria is the only country in the EU in which the NHIF does not cover the treatment of this disease, which mostly affects children.
