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A hospital patient was tested for diabetes - Edexcel - GCSE Biology Combined Science - Question 5 - 2021 - Paper 1
Question 5
A hospital patient was tested for diabetes. A nurse recorded his mass and height. Figure 7 shows these measurements. mass in kg height in metres 124 1.... show full transcript
Worked Solution & Example Answer:A hospital patient was tested for diabetes - Edexcel - GCSE Biology Combined Science - Question 5 - 2021 - Paper 1
Step 1
Step 2
Describe the trends shown in this data.
Answer
The blood glucose concentration shows the following trends:
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From 0 to 4 hours, the concentration increases from 100 mg/dL to 131 mg/dL, indicating a rise in blood glucose levels.
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Between 4 to 8 hours, the concentration increases slightly further to 139 mg/dL, maintaining a high level.
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However, from 8 to 12 hours, there is a significant decrease to 90 mg/dL, indicating a drop in blood glucose levels.
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The concentration remains relatively stable from 12 to 16 hours, slightly increasing to 92 mg/dL.
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Then, it rises again to 134 mg/dL by 20 hours before slightly decreasing to 137 mg/dL by 24 hours.
Step 3
Explain why the blood glucose concentration of this patient remained high from 4 hours to 8 hours.
Answer
The blood glucose concentration remained high from 4 to 8 hours likely due to the body's impaired ability to uptake glucose, which is a characteristic of type 2 diabetes. In this condition, the body's cells are resistant to insulin, preventing effective glucose absorption. Therefore, even after several hours, the glucose levels in the blood stay elevated because insulin is not effectively reducing these levels.
Step 4
Explain how the data in Figure 8 shows that this exercise occurred after 8 hours but before 12 hours.
Answer
The data in Figure 8 indicates that the blood glucose concentration was high at 139 mg/dL at 8 hours but dropped to 90 mg/dL at 12 hours. This significant decrease suggests that exercise took place after the 8-hour mark because physical activity typically lowers blood glucose levels by increasing glucose uptake by the muscles. The drop in glucose levels within this time frame shows that exercise likely occurred between 8 and 12 hours.