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