Could you hate a Diabetic� because of their illness?

Ancksu SA • Posts: 190

1 14 Dec 2009

I�m sure that we�ve all heard about Diabetes and to say the least, have a general understanding of this illness and its medication for stability.
But has anyone actually had a look at its protein structure?
The Insulin, that is�

The insulin used for diabetes mellitus is associated medically to treat particular forms of the illness.

(That we know)

It is a hormone that effects metabolism and other body functions like vascular compliance and forces the cells in the liver, muscle and fat tissue to take up glucose.

(Still all good to know)

But what might be interesting to learn is,
Within vertebrates, the similarity of insulin is extremely close�

In some insulins that are still used around the world, it contains extracts from both bovine (cattle) and porcine (pig) insulin. Also in some cases, the insulin from some species of fish is similar enough to humans to be clinically effective.

Given though,
In 1977, the first genetically engineered synthetic �human� insulin was produced and is becoming more popular than insulin�s first succeeded creation.

But I just thought that it�s a bit of medical history that some one might have been interested in�

peace

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x.Tara NSW • Posts: 357

2 14 Dec 2009

no drug, food, make up etc should come from an animal. humans get illnesses. so do animals. but it's not like they take extracts from humans for their benefit.

some diabetic who worked for peta said "yes but i help animals and i need that drug so i can continue to do so" or something along those lines. not sure if i agree with that though.

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Compostkitty NSW • Posts: 780

3 14 Dec 2009

i think medication is an exception for some, where thats the only medication that can help them.

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_Matt VIC • Posts: 1567

4 14 Dec 2009

In this case, I think if animals were being harvested for the sole reason of supplying an ingredient to medicine for humans, it would be inexcusable -- in my opinion -- to add to that demand (i.e. being responsible for killing animals).

However, from what I gather, in the case of insulin, the above wouldn't be applied. The insulin would be traded after the main reason the animal was bred and killed for in the first place - meat. Therefore, by taking that insulin, you're not directly contributing to the demand of slaughtering animals.

Once meat is gone, slaughtering animals for minor things such as trace-ingredients, emulsifiers etc won't be profitable. It's going to be far too expensive to raise an animal for such a little thing. People will find alternatives, some readily available such as the said non-human derived insulin.

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ckimana NSW • Posts: 2545

5 14 Dec 2009

sarah-moo said:

i think medication is an exception for some, where thats the only medication that can help them.

Agreed

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Jen VIC • Posts: 619

6 14 Dec 2009

ckimana said:

sarah-moo said:

i think medication is an exception for some, where thats the only medication that can help them.

Agreed

Agreed 2nd.
Although this is a hard one...

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Buttons VIC • Posts: 229

7 14 Dec 2009

*(to sarah-moo's comment, the quote was lost)*

Thirded. As an ex-cancer patient, I have a fairly low tolerance for people who get judgy about those who get transplants/take medication/transfusions etc. Particularly if they've never faced such medical problems themselves - which is usually the case! peace

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fAeRiEs ArE aFtEr Me VIC • Posts: 376

8 14 Dec 2009

Matt.Y said:

In this case, I think if animals were being harvested for the sole reason of supplying an ingredient to medicine for humans, it would be inexcusable -- in my opinion -- to add to that demand (i.e. being responsible for killing animals).

However, from what I gather, in the case of insulin, the above wouldn't be applied. The insulin would be traded after the main reason the animal was bred and killed for in the first place - meat. Therefore, by taking that insulin, you're not directly contributing to the demand of slaughtering animals.

Once meat is gone, slaughtering animals for minor things such as trace-ingredients, emulsifiers etc won't be profitable. It's going to be far too expensive to raise an animal for such a little thing. People will find alternatives, some readily available such as the said non-human derived insulin.

you're so clever! happy

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Honeygoon NSW • Posts: 76

9 15 Dec 2009

They're synthetic now here in Australia anyway.

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4_da_animals1 SA • Posts: 3293

10 31 Dec 2009

yeah, i think no situation is black and white, there is always shades of grey, this is one of those situations.

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