The cure for diabetes could lay in sled dogs

Siberian Huskies are used in the Iditarod because they are some of the most energy efficient dogs out there Even after running hundreds of miles on a day to day basis, they barley show any signs of fatigue

Could their knack for burning fat be the key to treating obesity in type 2 diabetes?

Michael Davis, a professor who has studied exercise physiology in sled dogs, is on the road to find out. Davis recently concluded the preliminary research phase of examining how dogs training for the grueling Iditarod, become “insulin-sensitive” and effortlessly transform fat into energy.

“If we can figure out what exercise is doing to start the process, then we may be able to find how it can be applied to everyone, whether or not they are physically able to exercise,” he says.

Almost twenty million Americans have diabetes. By maintaining a healthy diet and regular exercise it is possible to prevent the onset of type 2 diabetes.

The Diabetes Action Research and Education Foundation has contributed one-third of the $30,000 research grant. Oklahoma State University is bankrolling the remainder.

Insulin, a hormone created in the pancreas, typically helps the cells in the body extract glucose from the blood stream and turns it into energy. People with type 2 diabetes often have problems absorbing glucose.

In January, Davis chose sixteen dogs in Iditarod that were in excellent shape from the kennel of one of the current racers and had the huskies run for twenty-two miles at a swift pace of eight mph. Half the dogs were anesthetized for five minutes while researchers took small muscle biopsies from their legs; the other half were measured for insulin sensitivity using catheters.

Davis hopes to be able to understand how cells are reacting under various physical conditions by calculating the same dog’s metabolic stress on their muscles again after the summer, when they are no longer in shape.

The research he is doing spured the attention of at least one animal rights group that opposes experimentation.

Regarding their statements, Davis mentions that compares to smaller animals such as mice and rats, dogs share more DNA with humans. “There is a greater likelihood that something you discover in dogs will be directly relevant to humans,” he says.

 

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