According to Rachel Ehrenberg from U.S. News & World Report, new research suggests that dolphins go into a harmless diabetic state during overnight fasting in order to maintain high levels of glucose in their blood. This new discovery means that dolphins have the potential to be a good model to study diabetes, and could possibly “offer insights into treating the disease in people,” reports Ehrenberg.
Because dolphins’ diets are high in protein and very low in glucose-rich carbohydrates, veterinary epidemiologist Stephanie Venn-Watson reports that dolphins might have a “diabetic switch” that “helps keep the brain well-fed” even when they haven’t eaten in a long time.Venn-Watson says, “While humans and dolphins aren’t closely related, both have big brains and blood cells that can carry large amounts of glucose. A similar diabetic “switch” may lurk in the physiology of humans.”
Find a doctor near you to get checked for diabetes.
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