The Role of Oxidative Stress in Diabetic Retinopath Dissertation

The Role of Oxidative Stress in Diabetic Retinopath - Dissertation Example Insulin is an important component in the regulation of the glucose pathway in humans as well as some other animals. Because of this, the inability to effectively create or use insulin results in significant health problems, and also has the potential to create diabetic complications as the disease progresses (Hartnett et al. 2000). Diabetes dramatically increases the chance of obtaining either a vascular or a microvascular condition (Pennathur and Heinecke 2004). The first form of diabetes is type I, where individuals are unable to produce insulin. People with this form of diabetes make up approximately five to ten percent of the diabetic population. They are also known as insulin-dependent (IDDM), and the two terms can be used interchangeably. In contrast, the remainder of diabetes patients are able to produce insulin but do not have the correct cellular response to the hormone. This is known as type II diabetes. Individuals with this form of the disease are non-insulin-dependent (N IDDM). As diabetes progresses, a number of different complications can develop, including diabetic retinopathy, which results in permanent loss of vision due to tissue damage (Hartnett et al. 2000). ... Because this occurs, the oxidative species are able to significantly damage the tissues of the body (Evans et al. 2003). It is argued that this is strongly related to the development of hyperglycemia (Cvetkovic et al. 2009). The development of complications has significant impact for people suffering from diabetes, resulting in significant decreases in quality of life, among other effects. One particularly strong effect of diabetic retinopathy is that at the current time it is incurable, meaning that people with this complication must life with its effects for the rest of their lives. Currently, diabetic retinopathy is one of the most common complications that occurs as the result of diabetes, and the majority or all suffers will end up with the complication after having diabetes for between 15 and 20 years (Bucolo et al. 2012). Because of the prevalence of diabetic retinopathy and its significant effects, it is crucial to understand the way that this complication develops, and wheth er these mechanisms are able to be used in the development of preventative or curative treatments for the disorder. As with other diabetic complications, oxidative stress is believed to play a crucial role in the development and maintenance of diabetic retinopathy. The aim of this paper is to examine recent research in the field of oxidative stress in diabetic retinopathy, and consider the strengths and weaknesses of current knowledge. It is hoped that the conclusions of this paper will help to inform future research and determine the gaps present in the research on this area. 2. Oxidative Stress in Diabetes Oxidative stress is the underlying factor in most mechanisms of diabetes (Neri

Response paper on Film 12 Monkeys Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Response paper on Film 12 Monkeys - Essay Example The few survivors are left to live in tunnels underground. The earth is inhabited only by animals and insects which fearlessly wander the planet which is now free of humans. The virus which succeeded in wiping out such a big portion of mankind, apparently, didn’t have any effect on any other forms of life on earth. The main character, a prisoner called James Cole, is about to be sent back in time, to the year of 1996, to get a pure specimen of the virus to make it possible for the scientists of his present, to study the virus and discover a way of reversing the damages caused by it and eradicating it, to make the earth suitable for humans to live in. In the first attempt to travel back to 1996, Cole accidentally ends up in the year of 1990. He gets imprisoned and sent to a mental asylum when he tries to convince those around him that he has come from the future. There he is taken over by psychiatrist, Dr. Kathryn Railly. The people who belong to the present of 1996 are convinced that this man who claims to have come from the future, who believes that a certain virus is going to kill 5 billion people in 1996, is indeed insane. Apart from Dr. Railly nobody is even willing to hear him out. Even though Dr. Railly feels a strange and unexplainable attraction towards Cole, even she is convinced that he is just delusional and whatever he believes to be his reality is just a ‘meticulously constructed fantasy’ of his mind. Cole keeps having recurring dreams of a man being shot dead at an airport and that of a woman running towards the dying man. He sees it through the eyes of a child who is present at the place where the incident takes place. This dream is the link that connects the central theme of the past, the present and the future. The child’s striking resemblance to Cole makes sense only towards the end of the movie. Another inmate of the asylum, Jeffrey Goines, son of a renowned virologist, provides