The Effects Of Cell Respiration

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Cell Respiration is the process that cells use to break down sugars into an energy form that our body can use, we call this energy ATP and its production is the overall goal of cell respiration. Oxidative phosphorylation is the final stage of cellular respiration; it is a metabolic pathway in the mitochondria of cells in which the oxidation of nutrients releases energy for the making of ATP. Glucose now in the form of energized electrons is the critical energy source in this process. The energized electrons move down chain releasing energy that glucose supplied them with that will be used to pump hydrogen ions across the inner mitochondrial membrane and form a concentration gradient. The releasing of hydrogen ions powers enzyme ATP synthase, …show more content…

What it will do is allow for the electron transport chain to continue but will stop or slow the production of ATP, this causes for all useful energy to be lost as heat. The drug DNP sends protons across membranes in oxidative phosphorylation and stops the electrons from releasing energy thus stopping the synthesis of ATP. DNP will lead to weight because when our bodies produce less ATP the only way to compensate for this loss is to speed up our metabolisms consequently more fats and carbohydrates will be used as energy instead of being stored as fat. All of this sounds good at first glance, but when you take a closer look you will actually see how dangerous this drug can be. By stopping the production of ATP and causing for all this energy to be lost as heat you can cause your bodies temperature to rise. Your body temperature can rise so high that you get hyperthermia; when your body temperature rises well above normal and can cause death. In the article 2,4-Dinitrophenol by Simon Cotton many deaths are talked about. The people range from being body builder to normal people trying to lose weight. In each case the reason for death was the particular person over dosed and hyperthermia was caused (Cotton 2015). This drug could be used but only if you have very close supervision and have the right dosage however the problem is that peoples tolerances to DNP can vary greatly so even with this supervision its still possible to over dose if your tolerance is less than the expected

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