Measurement Of Light Absorbency Of Solutions...

Hannah Ray BSC 120 Lab 10-27-15 Measurement of Light Absorbency of Solutions Representative of Blood Glucose to Determine Concentration Abstract Type two diabetes mellitus is a disease characterized by the body’s inability to regulate glucose in the bloodstream. This disease affects millions and can lead to other chronic illnesses and eventually death. An experiment was done to determine the blood glucose of diabetic and non-diabetic individuals over two hours following a meal. A spectrophotometer was used to detect the light absorbency of solutions that represented non-diabetic and diabetic blood, taken right before a meal and thirty minutes, sixty minutes, ninety minutes, and one-hundred-twenty minutes after a meal was eaten. A higher light absorbency indicated a higher blood glucose concentration and a lower light absorbency indicated a lower blood glucose concentration. The diabetic blood samples were found to have higher absorbencies than the non-diabetic blood samples. Those high absorbencies, which also represent high concentrations of glucose, appeared to remain elevated for a longer period of time in diabetics rather than non-diabetics, and it took a much longer time for the blood glucose levels to return to normal in diabetics, still elevated after even two hours. This excess glucose in the blood stream ultimately leads to dozens of other, chronic health problems, but the disease can be prevented or even cured with proper treatment, education, and lifestyle