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| Categories: History of diabetes |
| History of diabetes | |
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The history of Insulin and the treatment of type 1 diabetes
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Already in the antiquity doctors knew the "honeysweet urination" which is the literal translation of diabetes mellitus. In the Egyptian papyrus "Ebers" (1550 BC) diabetes is described precisely. Likewise old Indian documents (300 BC until 600 AD) prove that diabetes was known very early. Although Paracelsus (1493 - 1541) was the first to distinguish diabetes as a metabolic disease.
In the 19th century Claude Bernard is able to show the split of carbohydrates in the intestine. Paul Langerhans (1847 -1888) is another scientist who is preoccupied with this. In 1868 he writes his dissertation in which he describes special "cell heaps" in the pancreas - the place of insulin production. In 1893 these cells are named after him. The coherence between blood glucose and pancreas was discovered later by Oskar Minkowski. By suspicion, he removed the pancreas of dogs with the help of Joseph von Mering. Then he recognized the dogs began to show symptoms of diabetes. Consequently the pancreas must secrete something that regulates the glycometabolism.
In 1921 Frederick Banting and Charles Best (Toronto) describe the secrete: the hormone insulin. Therewith, the treatment of diabetes in young patients is made possible (30 July 1921). Two years later both scientists get the Nobel prize for this. In the same year insulin was produced industrially for the first time. It had to be injected several times throughout the day because the concentration was very low (U5-U10 Ely Lilly - USA and U10 - U20 Hoechst - Germany). In 1936 protamine insulin (NPH) is developed by Hagedorn in Denmark. This is the first kind of delay insulin. The first depot insulin (surfeninsulin) was delivered in 1940. It was a lucid solution and stirring up was not necessary any more. In 1951 it is offered in a fixed combination of 1/3 old insulin and 2/3 quinolin-ureaderivative (Komb - Insulin by Hoechst).
The chemical construction of insulin is described in 1955 by Frederick Sanger (UK). This was the first requirement to produce insulin synthetically. In 1958 Sanger received the Nobel prize for chemistry. The first insulin-synthesis succeeded in 1963.
Since the end of the 1970's the blood glucose can be checked by the patient. The HbA1c level which is nowadays very important was made measurable ten years later. In 1980 the first series of insulin pumps is produced. Three years later the human insulin, frequently used in pumps, is published. Pens appear in 1985 after four years of testing.
The first short-term insulin (Lispro) is introduced in 1996 and in 2000 the first long-term insulin analogue (Glargin) follows.
Source: u.a. Prof. Dr. med. Stephan Matthaei, Einführung: Versorgung von Patienten mit Diabetes mellitus Typ-1 - Was war, was bleibt, was kommt?. On the AccuChek Symposium 2005, yearly convention of the German Diabetes Association 2005 in Berlin (ICC)
Translated by Jella Eifler
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