BBC Focus - 03.2020

Q&A

BILLYWILSON,DEAL,KENT

ISTHEREANYHOPE

OF CURING DIABETES?

Diabetesis actuallyseveralmedical

conditionswithonethingin

common:theyallleadtounhealthy

levelsofglucosein theblood.While

thehumanbodyneedsquick

accesstosugarforenergy,

excessivelevelsincreasetheriskof

prematuredeathfromheart

disease,strokeandkidneyfailure.

Normally,bloodsugarlevelsare

controlledbythepancreasthrough

thereleaseofinsulin,a hormone

thathelpscellsabsorbbloodsugar.

Butthiscangowrongin several

ways,reflectedin thedifferent

forms of diabetes.

In theUK,around 10 percentof

casesareso-called‘type1’ diabetes,

causedbylossoftheinsulin-

producingcellsin thepancreas.For

unknownreasons,thesecellsare

attackedbythebody’simmune

system,sopatientsneedregular

dosesofinsulin,usuallybyinjection.

Butthemostcommontype,at

around 90 percent,is ‘type2’

diabetes,wherecellsnolongerfully

respondtoinsulin.This‘insulin

resistance’leavesexcesssugarin the

blood,triggeringdemandforyet

moreinsulin,leadingtodamageto

thepancreas.Type2 diabetesis

oftenlinkedtodietsrichin carbsand

sugar,andsedentarylifestyles.

Whilethere’snocureforeither

type,patientswithseveretype1 can

beoffereda pancreastransplant,

whichtypicallyworksforaroundfive

years.Therearealsocasesof

patientsbecomingdisease-freefora

while,withtheirpancreas

mysteriouslyregainingitsabilityto

produceinsulin.Whetherthiscanbe

triggeredbydrugsis currentlya

focusofresearch.Intriguingly,a 2018

studyattheUniversityofAlabamaat

Birmingham,US,foundthat

verapamil,a drugusedtocontrol

bloodpressure,canhelptype 1

diabeticsmaintaininsulin

production,buttheresearchis stillat

anearlystage.Forthosewithtype 2

diabetes,changingtoa healthier

diet,losingweightandtakingmore

exercisecanoftenproveeffective

in controlling symptoms.RM

DILEEPBAGNALL,

LANCASHIRE

ISTHESTRAIGHT

LINEA HUMAN

INVENTION?

Youcouldarguethat

there’snosuchthingas

a straightline,because

everything– if you

zoomincloseenough

• hasirregularities.
  Evena beamof
  laserlightis slightly
  curved,aslightis bent
  bytheEarth’s
  gravitationalfield.
  Butif werelaxour
  definitionto‘something
  thatlooksstraightto
  thehumaneye’,then
  wecanfindplentyof
  straightlinesinnature


• rockstrata,tree
  trunks,theedgesof
  crystals,strandsof
  spidersilk.
  Thereasonwelike
  straightlinesis because
  ofa fundamental
  propertyofthe
  Universe– theshortest
  distancebetweentwo
  pointsis a straightline.
  Naturealsofollowsthis
  principle.Spiders,for
  example,maketheir
  websbystretchingsilk
  strandsacrossthe
  shortestpath.
  It’struethatcurved
  linesarecommonin
  nature,butmanyof
  thesearejustan
  extensionofthis
  principleintothree
  dimensions.The
  smallestsurfaceareato
  enclosea volumeis a
  sphere.Sothebonds
  betweenwater
  moleculespull
  raindropsintoa sphere,
  andcellshaverounded
  shapestoreducethe
  amountofcell
  membranethey
  need.LV

TAMSINNICHOLSON,WARWICKSHIRE

WHY ARE SOME PEOPLE MORE SQUEAMISH THAN OTHERS?

Psychologistscallsqueamishness‘disgust

sensitivity’or‘disgustproneness’.Disgustis an

evolvedemotionalreactionthatpromptsusto

avoidpotentiallycontaminatingmaterial,suchas

blood,pusorfaeces.Thishasobvioussurvival

advantages,helpingustoavoidinfectious

diseasesandtoxicfood,butanoverlysensitive

disgustresponsecanhavedrawbacks– makingus

less likely to try new foods, for instance, or board a

crowdedtrain.Thesurvivalvalueofdifferent

levelsofsqueamishnesswillhavevaried

dependingonthecircumstancesourancestors

foundthemselvesin,andvariabilityinthe

emotionhasbeenpasseddownthroughthe

generations.Ourdisgustsensitivityis also

influencedbyearlysociallearning,suchasfrom

ourparents’disgustreactions,andbycultural

customs around hygiene and purity.CJ