The Signs In Living Things (part 4)

HIBERNATING BEARS ARE A SOURCE OF INSPIRATION FOR NEW DISCOVERIES IN MEDICINE

The first animals one thinks of whenever the word “hibernation” is mentioned is without doubt bears.

Scientists have recently been researching how it is that bears can remain healthy over the long months of hibernation, and are looking for ways to make use of bears’ physiological characteristics in the field of medicine. For example, the objective behind one piece of research being carried out at the Michigan Technological University is to find a cure for osteoporosis by studying the bone metabolism of bears.

Our bones are constantly being renewed throughout our lives. Yet if bone breakdown increases for reasons such as old age or immobility, and if renewal declines, then the bone tissue weakens. This is something that applies to human beings. Yet, although the American Black Bear remains almost totally immobile during the months it spends in hibernation, it suffers no loss in bone density. It is thought that if a human being were to remain in bed for a similar length of time his bones would grow very brittle and break easily.

An article on the subject by the research team, led by Seth Donahue of Michigan Technological University in Houghton, was published in The Journal of Experimental Biology in 2003. It describes how there is an increase in bone breakdown as the bear hibernates, but bone production remains constant. Immobile human beings suffer damage because breakdown increases while bone production declines rather than remaining constant. As the animal wakens from hibernation and begins to move again, production reaches its highest level, and the bones are thus able to return rapidly to their former state. Yet a human being immobilized for a long period of time due to injury or sickness suffers bone loss and may never fully return to his former condition.

The Black Bear does not feed during hibernation. That may give rise to the following question: From where does it obtain the calcium necessary for bone production? Donahue thinks that the calcium released by bone loss is re-absorbed by the body and recycled in bone production. One of the reasons why he believes this is because the Black Bear has no excretory or urinary activity during hibernation. Seth Donahue sets out his thoughts in these terms:

"We're most interested in how bears recycle calcium… That's most likely regulated by specific hormones." (Seth Donahue, Michigan Technological University)

Osteoporosis begins with weakening of the bone tissue, and can lead to fractures and breakage-related deaths in the advanced stages. Ageing is a major risk factor in the development of osteoporosis. Bone tissue is constantly being renewed; however, bone production is only maintained at a high level until the age of 30-35. After 45, bone breakdown starts to increase. Many people today suffer from this disease. Scientists studying bear bones in terms of resistance, permeability and mineral density obtained a very surprising finding. According to the results of the study, age has no effect on bear bones. In addition, as the bear grows older the resistance and mineral density of its bones actually increase significantly!

The research team particularly focused on the parathormone secreted by the parathyroid gland. They were surprised to observe that the structure of this hormone differs from that of the parathormone in the human body. Scientists are now trying to identify the origin of the difference between the two hormones and to produce a synthetic version that mimics the function of the bear hormone. Success may lead to the production of a new drug for osteoporosis sufferers.

All this research may change the methods used by doctors in the treatment of osteoporosis and play a significant role in reducing bone problems not only in the bed-ridden and elderly people suffering bone wastage, but also in astronauts who spend long periods of time in space.

Most people feel very fit when they take regular exercise. Yet the Black Bear is equally “fit” when it wakes from its months of hibernation. According to a study published in Nature magazine in 2001, Black Bears that remain almost totally immobile for months during hibernation suffer no significant loss in muscle strength and tissues.

Henry Harlow, from University of Wyoming, and his research team established that Black Bears experience a 22% loss in muscle strength during hibernation, and a protein loss of 10 to and 15%. In fact, these findings are quite astonishing, because humans would lose 85% of their strength and 90% of their protein over a similar period. Several years ago the physiologist Edgar Folk discovered that urea, a toxic substance expelled from the body under normal circumstances, was re-absorbed through the bear’s bladder during hibernation. The nitrogen in urea is made available for re-cycling in the body and in the manufacture of protein. There is no such system in human beings, however. If a human being’s urinary system fails to function for even a short time the result is death from an accumulation of toxic urea in the blood. Harlow thinks that urea meets part of the bear’s protein requirements, and that protein is also obtained from other sources. According to Harlow, like some species of snake that digest their own small intestines in the event of an urgent need for protein, bears may also draw on such labile protein reserves as visceral smooth muscle.

Based on figures obtained from small thermometers they implanted on bear’s bodies, the scientists concluded that Black Bears shiver on a regular basis during hibernation. They believe that regular shivering is a factor that protects muscle strength. According to the research team, understanding the system that protects the bear’s muscles during hibernation can lead to a new conception in the treatment of muscle diseases linked to immobility in human beings. In fact, a hibernating bear is a potential source of inspiration for medical science in a number of respects. Drugs produced on the basis of substances produced in the bear’s body may lead to new treatments for such diseases as kidney failure, diabetes and obesity.

As we have seen, with the features of their bodies bears are shedding light on medical research. The qualities of bears understood by scientists only as the result of long years of work in the laboratory have existed in these animals from the moment of their birth.

It is Almighty God Who creates bears together with their perfect mechanisms, endows them with these mechanisms to take care of them over the long months of hibernation, Who inspires their every action, and Who rules over all living things in the Earth and heavens. Our Lord has created these magnificent features in animals as evidence for human beings to reflect on. He reveals this in the Qur’an:

“And in your creation and all the creatures He has spread about there are signs for people with certainty.”

(Surat al-Jathiyya, 4)

PS: this is a copy of Harun Yahya’s article (with the title: The Sign of Living Things), available on http://www.harunyahya.com/.