A Brief History of Diabetes

Diabetes is a disease that has plagued Americans for decades, but the history of
diabetes goes back much further than that. In fact, the history of diabetes rea
ches back as far as Ancient Egypt! A physician there mentions a disease that has
frequent urination or polyuria as a major symptom. Ancient Greek doctors though
t the disease caused a melting of limbs and flesh into urine. The ancient medica
l diagnostic tool for determining diabetes was, strangely, for a doctor to sampl
e a bit of the patient's urine. If the taste was sweet, diabetes was diagnosed.
Clearly, malpractice suits had not been invented yet.
The history of diabetes went largely unchanged through the Middle Ages until a F
rench doctor suggested eating large amounts of sugar as a proscription for diabe
tes patients during the middle of the 19th Century. Quickly following that, Fren
ch and Italian doctors began to instead more about the digestive system and link
ed diabetes to glycogen levels in blood and finally advised individualized diets
for those diagnosed with diabetes. French and German scientists also experiment
ed on the pancreas at this time, going so far as to removing it from dogs to und
erstand how the digestive system functions (or doesn't) without it. Clearly, the
history of diabetes and the understanding of the disease still had a long way t
o go.
A huge turning point in the history of diabetes happened in Germany in 1908 when
a scientist introduced the first injectable pancreatic extract to treat glycosu
ria (low blood sugar). This practice had mixed results and vicious side effects
but was an important first step in the history of diabetes and treatment.
Finally, in 1921, a crucial year in the history diabetes, insulin is 'discovered
'. A couple of Canadian scientists were able to keep alive a dog lacking a pancr
eas several months with a steady dose of insulin injections. This was a break-th
rough as now there was substantial evidence lacking diabetes with a malfunctioni
ng pancreas. Scientists and doctors alike began work on insulin treatment for hu
man patients with diabetes.
Throughout the rest of the 20th century, the history of diabetes is marked with
further sophistication and development of other advances. A standardized insulin
delivery syringe was created in 1944. Other advances include insulin pumps, blo
od glucose monitors, biosynthesized human insulin, and the insulin pen delivery
system. The history of diabetes continues to be written as more and more is lear
ned about the disease.