Northerner
Admin (Retired)
- Relationship to Diabetes
- Type 1
People get type 2 diabetes. So do cats. But rats don't, and neither do dogs.
Subtle differences in the shape of proteins protect some and endanger others.
"All mammals make this same protein called amylin, and it only differs a little bit from species to species," says Martin Zanni, a University of Wisconsin-Madison chemistry professor. "The mammals that get type 2 diabetes, their amylin proteins aggregate in the pancreas into plaque that kills the cells around them. As a result, you can't make insulin."
Without insulin, hungry cells can't tap sugar in the bloodstream for energy, and high blood sugar levels cause type 2 diabetes and its complications -- stroke, nerve damage and kidney disease among them.
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/11/131111185227.htm
Subtle differences in the shape of proteins protect some and endanger others.
"All mammals make this same protein called amylin, and it only differs a little bit from species to species," says Martin Zanni, a University of Wisconsin-Madison chemistry professor. "The mammals that get type 2 diabetes, their amylin proteins aggregate in the pancreas into plaque that kills the cells around them. As a result, you can't make insulin."
Without insulin, hungry cells can't tap sugar in the bloodstream for energy, and high blood sugar levels cause type 2 diabetes and its complications -- stroke, nerve damage and kidney disease among them.
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/11/131111185227.htm