The Story Behind Diabetes
Even two thousand years before, diabetes has already been recognized as one of the deadly disease of the century. Aretaeus, a Greek authority, gave the name “diabetes” for this disease which comes from a Greek word meaning “siphon”. Physicians of the early times already recognized symptoms of diabetes but were powerless either in controlling or treating it.
Within the 17th century, Dr. Thomas Willis, a London physician, determines if his patients have diabetes by sampling their urine. If it has sweet taste according to him, then the patient has diabetes. This method has been accepted and widely used until the early 20th century.
A miraculous discovery of insulin happened in 1921 when Frederick Banting a young surgeon and his friend Charles Best administered insulin to a dying young man of diabetes and high glucose level returned to normal after 24 hours. Before that youngsters detected with diabetes are expected to reside for only less than a year however it changes when insulin was introduced. Many lives were saved or prolonged if not totally saved with the discovery of insulin. It had been Roger Hinsworth in 1935 that discovered the two types of diabetes namely: “insulin sensitive” or type I and “insulin insensitive” or type 2.
Since that time different types of insulin were developed and marketed like PZI insulin, NPH insulin and sulfonylureas, a dental medications for type 2 diabetes. In 1960 urine strips was introduced which is often used to monitor the glucose level. The year after, the use of syringe was widespread that is more efficient than the early glass syringe. Many are inconvenient with because you have to boil it to sterilized apart from it being so painful when use.
The enormous glucose meter came in 1965 created by Ames Diagnostics. It weighs nearly 3lbs with about four-inch galvanometer which is cumbersome to bring anywhere. New technology brought a much smaller sized glucose meter where you can bring with you wherever you go.
In 1970’s insulin pumps was designed. This allows a continuous drip of insulin dosage using a cannula and a small needle inserted into the skin. It is bulky and should be carried like a backpack. Today it is only light and easily carried in a pocket of anyone. A test called hemoglobin A1c is used to measure more exactly the blood glucose level. Newer models of sugar test are now becoming lighter and compact as well as easy to use.
Oral medications for diabetic people are now available over the counter and duly authorized by the FDA of the United States. Metformin is an effective medicine that heightens the sensitivity to insulin and boosts the ability of the muscles to use insulin. Precose is responsible for delaying the digestion of carbohydrates thus sudden rise of the glucose level is prevented. Liapro is the fast-acting insulin of today released in August 1996 that stimulates the body’s output.
Today with the emergence of newly formulated oral or inject able insulin, diabetes is no longer a threatening issue unlike before. Take a look at more information at http://historyofdiabetes.org/.
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