Science Buddies: "Ask an Expert"

My science fair project is a research based project since my general topic is Diabetes. The question I am trying to answer is, is there an affect of high glucose intake on cells in type one diabetics. I can not seem to find that much research on my particular topic and was wondering if you had any ideas on where to find some.

Thank you

Hi!
I'm not sure what grade you're in, but here are a couple of interesting links..
http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/ency ... 000305.htm
http://www.indstate.edu/thcme/mwking/diabetes.html
In general, high glucose intake would be harmful to people with type 1 diabetes, which is why they need to have insulin shots to lower their blood glucose levels. Hope it helps, good luck!

Thanks it did help! But we also have to have graphs and tables showing data we collected. Since I have a research project i will have to use a couple of expert's data and compare and contrast them. I am really having a hard time finding graphs and tables though. If anyone has any ideas please let me know.

Thanks

Hi,

I'm not an expert in this area, but perhaps I can provide some useful methodological advice. If I were researching your question, I'd do a web search as suggested already. But I would also try to think of someone who could help me -- for example, a friend or relative who is a physician or a medical researcher. In other words, when we are doing research professionally, we rely very much on asking other people-- finding someone who knows someone... The Ask an Expert forum is of course based on that idea.

So perhaps you could ask your teacher or parents if they know someone who's working in this area (or someone who might know someone) or perhaps you could ask your family physician.

Bill

dubbabubba,

I don't know what grade you are in, but if you are a high school student, you might try looking for some peer-reviewed articles. Public-access articles should come up in a Google search (especially if you type in very specific words, for instance the name of the insulin or the cell type). If you are still having trouble finding information, you can see if a local college library would allow you to run an online search there. Colleges often have electronic access to a large number of scientific journals and you should be able to find something. The librarian should be able to help you understand how to use the search engine.

Scientific literature is very dense, so keep in mind that you will have to spend some time searching for, narrowing, and reading through the articles you find. We are happy to help you interpret the articles, though, if you would like to do that.

Good luck!
Sonia

dubbabubba,
The American Diabetes Association's web site has research on diabetes.
http://www.diabetes.org/

I looked at the Centers for Disease Control web site and they have some nice charts on a variety of dibetes topics.
http://www.cdc.gov/

Good luck with your research.

Hi, I am 16 years old with normal weight and I don’t have any history of diabetes in the family. I consume lots of sugar, I used to drink lots of coke and have primary diabetes symptoms of thirst and lots of urination and my urine is pretty colorless or pale. Could I have type1diabetes, type2 diabetes, or nothing? Could it be diabetes type1 because I'm still 16 and it is known as the juvenile diabetes or diabetes insipid because my urine is pretty pale? Please answer me.

Dear Kelanie,

You should speak with your parents about this right away and your school's nurse, if your school has one, and/or a doctor. Nobody here at Science Buddies is qualified to give medical advice, but diabetes is a serious illness, especially if left untreated. It is therefore very important that you speak with your parents and a health professional about your concerns as soon as possible.

kelanie wrote:Hi, I am 16 years old with normal weight and I don’t have any history of diabetes in the family. I consume lots of sugar, I used to drink lots of coke and have primary diabetes symptoms of thirst and lots of urination and my urine is pretty colorless or pale. Could I have type1diabetes, type2 diabetes, or nothing? Could it be diabetes type1 because I'm still 16 and it is known as the juvenile diabetes or diabetes insipid because my urine is pretty pale? Please answer me.

You need to tell your parents and go see a doctor. Only they can tell you.