Transcript[]
Text reads: The Mysteries of Life with Tim and Moby
Tim reads from a typed letter.
TIM: Dear Tim and Moby, what is diabetes? Do you get it from eating too much candy? From, Raichu. Diabetes is a disease that doctors have known about for thousands of years. It was understood how diabetes affects the human body a long time ago, but it wasn't until the twentieth century that real treatments were developed. You don't get diabetes from eating too many sweets, but diabetes is related to sugar. Everybody has a sugar called glucose in their blood.
An animation shows glucose flowing in the bloodstream.
TIM: We get this glucose from the food we eat, and our bodies use it as fuel.
An image shows a variety of food and a drink, and an animation shows a pulsating human figure.
TIM: A hormone called insulin, produced in your pancreas, controls how much of this glucose your body's cells can absorb.
An animation shows insulin released from the pancreas.
TIM: This way you have enough glucose to keep you going.
An animation shows insulin, shaped like a funnel. It is regulating glucose intake in a cluster of cells.
TIM: This natural balance breaks down in folks with diabetes. Depending on the type of diabetes, either not enough insulin is produced, or the body's cells can't use the insulin that is produced. Either way, diabetes causes trouble in regulating blood sugar levels.
Side-by-side animations show a pancreas releasing a small amount of insulin and insulin that does not attach to a cell.
TIM: The full name of the disease is diabetes mellitus. Mellitus is the Latin word for "sweetened with honey," and this name describes a major symptom of diabetes. Diabetics often have sugar in their urine because their bodies are not absorbing it.
An animation shows flowing urine from the kidneys to the bladder.
TIM: Believe it or not, this is how doctors used to have to test for diabetes.
An animation shows a doctor tasting something on his finger.
MOBY: Beep.
Moby covers his mouth in shock.
TIM: Well, now there are all sorts of ways to test for excess sugar in the blood, like blood glucose meters.
An image shows a blood glucose meter.
TIM: When there's a lot of glucose in your blood, it's because your body's cells couldn't absorb it.
An animation shows a high amount of glucose in the bloodstream.
TIM: High blood glucose can make you feel tired, dizzy, or even sick.
An animation shows a person with his eyes closed, feeling tired and dizzy.
TIM: If you have diabetes, the trick is to restore balance to your body. Your doctor will prescribe a system of healthy eating and exercise that's right for you.
An image shows healthy foods that include brown bread, a carrot, a banana, broccoli, and a sweet potato. An animation shows a figure running.
MOBY: Beep?
TIM: Well, as I said before, there are different kinds of diabetes. The disease generally comes in two forms, type 1 and type 2. Type 2 diabetes is the most common, and it usually happens in adults.
An animation shows a woman holding a blood glucose meter.
TIM: Many people can control type 2 diabetes by changing their diet. If that doesn't work, they can usually take a pill or liquid medicine that helps control it.
Side-by-side images show the healthy foods previously shown and a hypodermic needle with a vial labeled "insulin."
TIM: Type 1 diabetes is much rarer, and generally much more serious. This is the kind of diabetes that's most common in children, which is why it's sometimes called juvenile diabetes.
An animation shows a doctor holding up a needle. A young kid sits on the examination table with arms crossed.
TIM: Unlike type 2 diabetes, you can't control this form of the disease with diet alone. People with type 1 diabetes have to take doses of insulin to make up for the insulin that the pancreas isn't producing.
Moby pricks his finger to test his glucose. A small drop of blood appears.
MOBY: Beep!
Moby puts his finger on the blood glucose meter. It gives off warning sounds, flashes red text saying "DANGER!" and begins to smoke.
MOBY: Beep!
TIM: Um...
Moby throws the blood glucose meter, now in flames, out the window.
TIM: Ah, I'm sure it's fine!