Type 2 Diabetes #1

by Jim Dowdalls

Title

Type 2 Diabetes #1

Artist

Jim Dowdalls

Medium

Photograph - Photograph

Description

This is an illustration of Type 2 Diabetes, a disease characterized by insulin resistance. Insulin is produced by islet cells in the pancreas, and acts in unison with glucose to regulate energy in the body's cells. In Type 2 Diabetes, not enough insulin is produced to work with, and moderate the glucose; or sometimes enough insulin is manufactured, but it is not absorbed into the blood and body cells adequately, causing an excessive build-up of glucose. This is what causes the symptoms of diabetes. This illustration depicts glucose molecules (top left), streaming toward the muscle cell, where they are absorbed and congregate. Glucose traveling through the bloodstream will eventually go to all major body organs, including the heart, kidneys, and liver. Insulin protein, depicted on the bottom, leaves the pancreas cells, but does not interact with glucose, as it should, as the molecules are not being allowed into the muscle wall. The normal interaction should be for the insulin cells to enter the body's tissues, where they will control the proliferation of glucose in the bloodstream, tissues, and organs. The background here is a depiction of the islet cells of the pancreas, where insulin is usually manufactured.

Uploaded

April 4th, 2014

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