Type 2 Diabetes

Diabetes mellitus, more commonly known simply as diabetes, is a chronic disease which occurs when the body cannot provide any or enough of the hormone insulin, or cannot use the hormone that it produces effectively, resulting in raised levels of blood glucose. Insulin is an essential hormone produced by the pancreas. It allows glucose from food to pass from the bloodstream into cells in the body where the glucose is converted to energy, effectively regulating the amount of glucose in blood. The inability to produce insulin or to use the insulin the body produces leads to high levels of blood glucose, or hyperglycaemia. This is the clinical indicator of diabetes. Unchecked long-term insulin deficit can cause damage to many organs, leading to complications such as cardiovascular diseases, nerve damage, kidney damage, and compromised vision, even blindness.

History of Insulin

Before the discovery of insulin in 1922, the prognosis for those diagnosed with diabetes was very poor. In 1889, two German scientists, Minkowski, and von Mering, discovered that removal of the pancreas from experimental animals led to the development of severe diabetes mellitus. It was also observed that diabetes correlated with damage to the islets of Langerhans, which are clusters of specialized cells in the pancreas. Researchers attempted to demonstrate that internal secretion in the pancreas controlled carbohydrate metabolism by administering pancreatic solution to diabetic humans and animals, hoping to supply diabetics with what their bodies could not produce. The results were inconclusive.

Insulin Shortage

Although insulin was discovered in 1921, the drug is still unattainable to many around the world and little has been done to address the issue of its attainability. Currently the life expectancy for a child with Type 1 diabetes in sub-Saharan Africa is as low as one year due to poor access to insulin. Yet, access to insulin is not only an issue for low-income and middle-income countries. The leading cause for diabetic ketoacidosis in an inner city setting in the United States is discontinuation of insulin usage due to its cost. Access to insulin is also an issue in Europe due to its burden on health budgets and financial crisis.

Solutions to Insulin Shortage

In resource-poor countries, access to insulin is compromised due to the inappropriate spending of limited funds. The general use of analogue insulin is not wise especially for resource-poor countries. Regular human or animal insulins would suffice in most cases. Bulk rendering which can take place with the cooperation of countries can be helpful as it increases bargaining power. Purchasing generic medicines is also beneficial, yet there are few generic insulins available. Differential pricing would effectively address the problem of affordability. Compulsory licensing and local production would mitigate both the issues of affordability and availability. Brazil and India have been able to participate in local production of insulin.

Emergency

Emergence is the phenomenon which describes how the properties of a system are greater than the sum of its parts. Emergent systems can involve networks as varied as cells in a human brain, ants in an ant colony, people in a city and stars in a galaxy. The formation of complex symmetrical patterns in snowflakes shown in the image is an example of emergence.

Emergence principles are recognized inherently by aboriginal people groups everywhere and in classical societies as early as the 3rd century BCE.