[Diabetes-talk] On this date in History: January 23rd 1922 Insulin Injection Aids Diabetic Patient

[Bridgit Pollpeter]

This is very interesting. I had a great-aunt who died a year before
insulin was widely distributed from her type 1 diabetes. She was nine. I
don't know much more about her story, but though we certainly have valid
reasons to argue and complain about diabetes today especially as blind
diabetics, we certainly can be thankful that most of us are not facing
immediate illness and death from this disease. Who would have known 80
plus years ago that one day diabetics would not have all the
restrictions once essential if one wanted to survive the disease. Thanks
for sharing.

Sincerely,
Bridgit Kuenning-Pollpeter
Read my blog at:
http://blogs.livewellnebraska.com/author/bpollpeter/
 
"History is not what happened; history is what was written down."
The Expected One- Kathleen McGowan


-----Original Message-----
From: diabetes-talk-bounces at nfbnet.org
[mailto:diabetes-talk-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of cheryl echevarria
Sent: Monday, January 23, 2012 6:41 AM
To: Diabetes Talk for the Blind; EchevarriaTravelblog; Writer's Division
Mailing List
Subject: [Diabetes-talk] On this date in History: January 23rd 1922
Insulin Injection Aids Diabetic Patient




Good morning all:
I have started this date in History for my Blog, and being Diabetic, I
thought I would post this important date since I am also Diabetic.
January 23, 1922: This comes from History.com At Toronto General
Hospital, 14-year-old Canadian Leonard Thompson becomes the first person
to receive an insulin injection as treatment for diabetes. Diabetes has
been recognized as a distinct medical condition for more than 3,000
years, but its exact cause was a mystery until the 20th century. By the
early 1920s, many researchers strongly suspected that diabetes was
caused by a malfunction in the digestive system related to the pancreas
gland, a small organ that sits on top of the liver. At that time, the
only way to treat the fatal disease was through a diet low in
carbohydrates and sugar and high in fat and protein. Instead of dying
shortly after diagnosis, this diet allowed diabetics to live--for about
a year. A breakthrough came at the University of Toronto in the summer
of 1921, when Canadians Frederick Banting and Charles Best successfully
isolated insulin from canine test subjects, produced diabetic symptoms
in the animals, and then began a program of insulin injections that
returned the dogs to normalcy. On November 14, the discovery was
announced to the world. Two months later, with the support of J.J.R.
MacLeod of the University of Toronto, the two scientists began
preparations for an insulin treatment of a human subject. Enlisting the
aid of biochemist J.B. Collip, they were able to extract a reasonably
pure formula of insulin from the pancreas of cattle from slaughterhouses
and used it to treat Leonard Thompson. The diabetic teenager improved
dramatically, and the University of Toronto immediately gave
pharmaceutical companies license to produce insulin, free of royalties.
By 1923, insulin had become widely available, saving countless lives
around the world, and Banting and Macleod were awarded the Nobel Prize
in Medicine. Leading the Way in Independent Travel!

Cheryl Echevarria
http://www.echevarriatravel.com
631-456-5394
reservations at echevarriatravel.com

For daily updates read our blog at
http://www.echevarriatravel.wordpress.com

_______________________________________________
Diabetes-talk mailing list
Diabetes-talk at nfbnet.org
http://nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/diabetes-talk_nfbnet.org
To unsubscribe, change your list options or get your account info for
Diabetes-talk:
http://nfbnet.org/mailman/options/diabetes-talk_nfbnet.org/bpollpeter%40
hotmail.com