Essay On Human Hibernation

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Human Hibernation: Is it the new Cure for the Lifestyle Diseases? The world suffers from an epidemic of lifestyle diseases. The non-communicable diseases like diabetes, heart disease and cancer are the leading causes of death in the developed world—much more than those caused by infectious diseases. Bad eating habits, lack of exercise and tobacco consumption are some of the reasons to blame. While it may take years for us to break our habits, is there a simper option? Perhaps, further research may give you an answer. For now, there seems to be no quick fix. More than a third of the population in the United States are obese. The Organization for Economic Co-Operation and Development or the OECD estimates that about a third of the US population…show more content…
Human hibernation is an area of great interest, especially in Space Travel where the astronauts could be put in a state of torpor during the long journeys in space. For the others who are happy on terra firma, human hibernation may hold the key to cure: Type II Diabetes, Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD), Weight Loss, and many other illnesses. The great sleep in the humans is not something unheard of; there are instances of villagers sleeping for days together in France and Russia to escape the harsh winter [2]. There are also cases of people waking up unscathed after accidental freezing. Furthermore, yogis in India are known to go into a meditative trance where their metabolic rate and body temperatures drop considerably. Lessons from other mammals There are a plethora of studies on hibernation in mammals--and the physiological changes associated with hibernation. The hibernating bears are found to be obese and insulin resistant, yet they wake up in the spring season without any long-term effects. This is due to their innate ability to shut down a type of protein in their fat cells [3] [4]. Further research in this area will substantially contribute to better understanding of type II diabetes, obesity, and their
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