Anthony Pulido

ENGW3307
Unit 1 Final Draft
2/5/15
Word count: 1,498
APA
The Limited Insight into Diabetes Research
Science has always engaged and intrigued me, and more specifically, Ive always
been particularly interested in learning more about diabetes mellitus and related research.
Many people find their passion through the experiences that have impacted them. For my
friends in the sciences, sometimes they focus on medical illnesses or diseases that may
have impacted a friend or a family member. My grandfather lived a large portion of his
life with diabetes, and at an early age, his condition fuelled my passion for health and
medicine. Ive always had a sweet tooth, so when I would eat too much candy, my
parents would scold me, telling me I was at risk to have diabetes, as well. Well, then I
had to ask, if Im at risk for diabetes, then why isnt Dad diabetic, and how does anyone
get diabetes in the first place? In one way, I just wanted an excuse to keep eating candy,
but in another way, I was actually curious.
Fortunately, Ive grown up in the Internet generation, and answered enough of the
basic questions for myself. Diabetes mellitus is a metabolic disorder related to the
reception and production of insulin. Insulin is a hormone that induces the uptake of
glucose in the cell, which the cell metabolizes for energy. Type 1 Diabetes is less
common, and occurs when the body doesnt produce insulin, while Type 2 Diabetes
occurs when the body has increased insulin resistance. Ive had a few opportunities to
learn more about diabetes. My senior year of high school I made a presentation on the

history of insulin as a drug. My freshman year at Northeastern, I made a presentation on

an article studying the possible correlation between insulin resistance and Alzheimers in
non-diabetic patients. After studying the article on the correlation of insulin resistance
and the brain, my allure to the connections between insulin resistance and neurological
effects led me to a study done by Banu Boyuk and his team of scientists, Relationship
between Levels of Brain-Derived Neurotrophic Factor and Metabolic Parameters in
Patients with Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus [Boyuk et al].
A noticeable assumption made by Boyuks team when writing this study is the
moderate to high level of scientific knowledge they expected from the reader. When I
explain diabetes to science majors, I assume they have some background knowledge on
the topic. After living with a business major, a computer science major, and a journalism
major, I realized, despite being university students, they were limited in their scientific
understanding. Then, when I compare that with the general public, including many who
have never completed a college education or a high school education, Im reminded that
the general public might not know exactly what Im talking about when discussing some
of the science Ive learned. Now, the text is directed toward the scientific community, so
the content in the text is likely unapproachable by many in the general public. This is a
scholarly article expressing its argument in a professional tone. The text makes many
assumptions that the reader understands some of the terminology, such as hypoglycemia
(low blood sugar). The text expects its audience to have enough statistical knowledge to
understand some of the results that are not explained. Even as a third year Biochemistry
major, I still had to look further into the results to understand them. The text also assumes

that the published research on the subject accurately supports their hypotheses, and
research to make their own further assumptions based on their research.
On a broader scope, the Boyuk teams study assumes the publisher of the article,
Hindawi Publishing Corporation, the Journal of Diabetes Research, and the journals that
published the articles cited, are reliable. I personally did not know much about Hindawi
beforehand, but according to the Hindawi site, Many of the journals that Hindawi
publishes are included in the leading abstracting and indexing databases, including
PubMed where I found my article. Hindawi publishes open-access, peer-reviewed
journals and they are affiliated with multiple industry organizations that may contribute
to their credibility, including the Committee on Publication Ethics and other
organizations focused on the integrity and standards of publishing in many fields. After
learning about Hindawi, they appear to give more credibility in their publications,
including Boyuks.
When giving background information, Boyuks team cited articles arguing
increased brain derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) induce hypophagia (reduced appetite
and consumption) and hypoglycemia in animals with hyperglycemia [Boyuk et al]. The
purpose of their experiment was to test to see if any correlation exists between BDNF
levels and metabolic parameters in patients with Type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). The
researchers included 88 T2DM patients (38 males and 50 females) and 33 controls (17
males and 16 females) who were not diabetic and obtained their blood samples. Boyuks
team tested their patients for different variables to focus on their health status and their
diet. The research team asked for their age, and tested their body weight and size, blood
pressure, blood sugar, blood levels of different proteins including their insulin levels,

cholesterol levels, and their white blood. The scientist also asked if the subjects were
taking any drugs to treat diabetes, high blood pressure, or fat and cholesterol levels, and if
the subjects had any smoking history. Boyuks research team determined patients with
Type 2 diabetes had a higher level of BDNF, but the results were not consistent. The
team made correlations between the BDNF levels in the patients and their response to
proteins that typically indicate diabetes when patients show lower sensitivity. With higher
BDNF levels indicated a decreased sensitivity to proteins, such as insulin, a decreased
sensitivity commonly attributed to diabetes. The BDNF levels could be used to predict
whether or not a patient had Type 2 diabetes with a blood BDNF predictive concentration
of 137pg/mL, but the text proposed increasing the predictive value. It was also unclear
from the study if the Type 2 patients had increased BDNF levels to compensate for high
blood sugar levels [Boyuk et al].
The results of this experiment highlight the major dispute in the knowledge front
focused on Type 2 diabetes mellitus, insulin, and metabolism research. The knowledge
front has yet to find a specific cause of diabetes that can be pinpointed, and discovering
the cause of diabetes seems distant, despite the data currently available. Many scientists
believe the cause of diabetes is multifaceted, having a number of possible causes that,
together, cause Type 1 or Type 2 diabetes. Even in this text, an article was cited with
contradictory results, saying BDNF levels were significantly lower in patients with Type
2 diabetes. These correlations are independent of age or size of the patients. Meanwhile, a
number of studies correlate insulin resistance and Type 2 diabetes to other factors.
Studies exist correlating epigenetic factors of poor dietary habits in mice causing Type 1
diabetes two generations later.

Tracing back to my original question, what causes diabetes? In diabetes research,

no single cause of diabetes can be separated from the rest. Many people believe a number
of genetic causes correlated with one another to cause diabetes in patients. Others believe
in epigenetic causes such as the BDNF concentration, or diet in previous generations. If I
had unlimited time and resources, I would love to pursue all the possible angles from
which studies have shown impacts on diabetes, metabolism, insulin, or insulin resistance.
More realistically, I would like to focus on the effects of diabetes and insulin resistance
on the brain and brain proteins. If I could look into the correlation to cognitive function
and change in brain chemistry in patients with diabetes, I would be very intrigued to find
out what else could be impacted by metabolic changes. For me, this would require
completing my undergraduate career and hopefully working in a co-op position that
focused on this knowledge front. If I dont pursue Medical school, I would aim to
complete graduate school for a masters or a PhD to feel like I can truly make my own
impact in this knowledge front. Hopefully, I can contribute to the conversations and
studies on diabetes, which remain unclear and unspecific.

Citation
Boyuk et al. Relationship between Levels of Brain-Derived Neurotrophic Factor and
Metabolic Parameters in Patients with Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus. Journal of Diabetes
Research. Volume 2014 (2014), Article ID 978143.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2014/978143

Acknowledgements
Thank you Cecilia Musselman, Iain Drew, Mahmoud Idriss for proofreading my paper
and providing helpful feedback. Thank you to my old roommates Jake Fisher, James
Larisch, and Robbie Madfis for reminding me the importance of understanding my
audience. Thank you to my father for confirming my family health history.