A chronic metabolic disorder in which the body either does not produce enough insulin (Type 1, an autoimmune destruction of the pancreas's insulin-producing cells) or does not effectively use the insulin it produces (Type 2, insulin resistance with relative insulin deficiency), resulting in persistently elevated blood glucose. Left uncontrolled it damages blood vessels and nerves over years, raising the risk of cardiovascular disease, kidney failure, blindness and limb amputation. The isolation of insulin in 1921 to 1922 transformed what had been, for Type 1 patients especially, a fatal diagnosis into a manageable chronic condition.
Facts
Condition Classchronic, metabolic, endocrine 4 First DescribedDate is approximate (circa); Aretaeus of Cappadocia's exact dates are uncertain, generally placed in the first or second century CE. He coined the term diabetes, Greek for siphon, describing the disease's excessive urination. First Described (Era)The earliest known description of a disease consistent with diabetes appears in the Egyptian Ebers Papyrus, circa 1550 BCE, noting a condition marked by excessive urination. The Latin mellitus, honey-sweet, was added by the English physician Thomas Willis in 1675 after he noted the sweetness of the urine. 5 PrevalenceAn estimated 830 million adults worldwide were living with diabetes in 2022, according to World Health Organization data. 6 Classification
ICD-10 ChapterIV: Endocrine, Nutritional and Metabolic Diseases 1 Communicable or Non-communicable Transmission Route Causative Agent
Causative Agent (category)Idiopathic / Multifactorial 3 Connections
Associated With
Source Our History (Endocrine Society)
Source A History of MedicineLois N. Magner
Treated By
Source Insulin (Wikipedia)
Insulin therapy manages blood glucose levels; it is not a cure. Frederick Banting and Charles Best's 1921 to 1922 isolation of insulin at the University of Toronto is the founding discovery this treatment rests on.
Source A History of MedicineLois N. Magner
Sources
1. Wikipedia: ICD-10
WikipediaList of chapters, Chapter IVQuote, List of chapters, Chapter IV
Endocrine, nutritional and metabolic diseases
2. World Health Organization: Noncommunicable diseases (fact sheet)
World Health OrganizationLead section, transmission-route statement (inferred from disease-category)
The main types of NCDs are cardiovascular diseases (such as heart attacks and stroke), cancers, chronic respiratory diseases (such as chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and asthma) and diabetes.
Main Types section
The main types of NCDs are cardiovascular diseases (such as heart attacks and stroke), cancers, chronic respiratory diseases (such as chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and asthma) and diabetes.
View the Source 3. Diabetes (Wikipedia)
4. Encyclopaedia Britannica
5. A History of Medicine
Lois N. Magner, CRC Press
6. World Health Organization Fact Sheets
Our History (Endocrine Society)
Insulin (Wikipedia)
Wikimedia FoundationTreated By: Insulin, Lead sectionQuote, Treated By: Insulin, Lead section
used to treat high blood glucose
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the difference between Type 1 and Type 2 diabetes?
Type 1 is insulin lack from autoimmune destruction; Type 2 is insulin resistance.
In Type 1 the body does not produce enough insulin because of autoimmune destruction of the pancreas's insulin-producing cells. In Type 2 the body does not effectively use the insulin it produces, through insulin resistance with relative insulin deficiency.
What changed with the isolation of insulin?
It made a fatal diagnosis for Type 1 patients a manageable chronic condition.
The isolation of insulin in 1921 to 1922 transformed what had been, for Type 1 patients especially, a fatal diagnosis into a manageable chronic condition.
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