Thursday, December 8, 2011

Diabetes in History

Writings from the earliest civilizations in Asia Minor, China, Egypt, and India have documented the problems with diabetes mellitus, referring to patients with boils, infections, excessive thirst, loss of weight, and passing copious amounts of honeysweet urine, which often drew ants and flies. The term diabetes is derived from the Greek work meaning "siphon," or the passing through of water, and mellitus comes from the Latin word for "honeysweet." The Papyrus Ebers, an Egyptian paper dated about 1550 B.C., recommended that those afflicted with the disease go on a diet of beer, fruits, grains, and honey, which was said to stifle the excessive urination. Indian writings from the period attributed diabetes to overindulgence in food and drink. In northern European countries during the 15th, 16th, and 17th centuries, meals consisted primarily of roasted meats dripping in fat, sugary pastries, and plenty of butter and cream, but only small amounts of whole-grain breads or green, leafy vegetables. "It is, therefore, not surprising that many cases of diabetes were reported during these times of abundance. It is noteworthy, too, that during this period doctors had to taste the urine of patients for sweetness in order to detect the disease."5 Eventually, doctors centered on two schools of thought concerning diet. One school suggested dietary replacement of the sugar lost in the urine, while the other camp believed in restriction of carbohydrates in order to reduce the effects attributed to an excess of sugar. The first school was exemplified by Thomas Willis, a British physician who, in 1675, recommended a diet limited to milk, barley water, and bread. The diet was high in carbohydrates but low in calories. The other school was promoted by Dr. Rollo, a British military surgeon who, in 1797, began the trend toward high-fat, high-protein, and low-carbohydrate diets by prescribing mainly meat and fat. Some of the patients apparently were helped by the diets, as evidenced by reductions in the amounts of sugar spilled in the urine. Caloric restriction appears to have been the most effective therapy, since a French physician named Bouchardat found that the limited availability of food in Paris during the Franco-Prussian War of 1870-1871 brought marked reductions in the sugar spilled by his diabetic patients.

A major breakthrough in understanding the pathology of diabetes came in the latter part of the 19th century when Paul Langerhans, a German pathologist, while examining a pancreas under a microscope, discovered tiny cells that were different from the rest of the pancreatic tissue; these were later named the islets of Langerhans. Many physicians attempted to cure diabetes with extracts of the pancreatic islets, but these attempts were unsuccessful. This was because the extracts were contaminated with digestive juices from the pancreas that destroyed the activity of insulin, which is a protein.

In 1921, Frederick G. Banting and Charles H. Best, working at the University of Toronto, in Canada, discovered that they could obtain biologically active insulin from dogs and that the insulin cured the diabetes in dogs who had had their pancreases removed. The insulin was later given to a male diabetic human, who experienced a remarkable recovery. The use of insulin brought a dramatic drop in deaths due to diabetic coma and greatly increased the years of survival following detection of the disease. However, the insulin initially used brought sharp drops in blood sugar levels (hypoglycemia), which resulted in distressing symptoms. New forms of the hormone were developed by chemically modifying the substance so as to slow its action. One modification was developed in 1936 by a Danish researcher named Hagedorn, who added protamine, a protein-like substance. This and other modifications of insulin made it possible to use only one daily injection, instead of the three or four originally required.

12 comments:

  1. According to the writings from the earliest civilizations in China, Asia Minor, Egypt, and India, it has been documented that the problems related to diabetes mellitus, referred to patients who suffered from conditions such as weight loss, boils, excessive thirst, infections, etc. The term diabetes is derived from the Greek work meaning "siphon". Mellitus comes from the Latin word for "honeysweet." This is related to the the honey sweet urine passed by patients.

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  2. This is my first opportunity to visit this website. I found some interesting things. I don't know about Diabetes History but this post give me great information on this.
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  3. Sugar industry, incredibly, insists that once you look at the research, no expert says that sugar leads to any disease, even obesity.

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