15 - 1 Fun Facts About the History of Diabetes

Did you know that diabetes was first referred to around 3,000 years ago? A long time, huh? And up until just a few decades ago, managing blood sugar in people with diabetes was difficult or even impossible.

While there’s still no cure for diabetes, a look through history shows that we’ve come a long way. A greater knowledge of how diabetes works,plus major discoveries like insulin mean that more and more people with diabetes are able to live full lives without limits.

Keep on reading to discover some fun facts about the history of diabetes you may not know. Let us take you on an exciting journey through time.

Early Discovery of Diabetes

Fact #1: The ancient Egyptians mentioned the symptoms of diabetes in manuscripts that date back to 1500 B.C.

Fact #2: In India, physicians used to refer to diabetes as madhumeha, which translates to ‘honey urine’ since the urine of people with diabetes attracted ants. In fact, to test for diabetes, physicians would analyze urine to see if sugar-loving ants would come to the urine. Today, we know this occurs because extra sugar is expelled from the body through the urine.

Fact #3: Inl the 2nd Century AD Aretaeus, a great physician during the Greco-Roman period, officially introduced the term diabetes. The word diabetes comes from the Greek word διαβαινω (diabaino), which means “I pass through”.

Fact #4: It wasn’t until the 1600s that the term ‘Mellitus’ came around. English physician and anatomist Thomas Willis wrote about the sweetness of urine among those with diabetes, which he referred to as the “pissing evil.” Eventually, he came up with the term ‘Mellitus’.

Common Early Treatments for Diabetes

Fact #5: Early Greek physicians told their patients to exercise to treat diabetes. They recommended that they exercise on horseback thinking that this would reduce excessive urination.

Fact #6: Many other early treatments were recommended by physicians. Some of them included:

• Eating foods that were easy to digest like mutton or veal
• Tobacco
• A “non irritating” carb and milk diet, made up of mainly rice and milk
• A carb-free diet
• Opium
• Wormseed, lupin, and fenugreek powders (nope, we’d never heard of it either)
• Fasting

Fact #7: Another physician recommended that people with diabetes stick to a diet made up of 3 percent carbs, 32 percent protein, and 65 percent fat. He also advised against eating garden produce and fruits.

Fun Facts on Insulin, Insulin Resistance and the Pancreas

Fact #8: The first patient to ever receive an insulin injection was Leonard Thompson. At age 14 he was admitted to hospital on the verge of going into a diabetic coma. He was given an injection of insulin, continued to use it throughout his life, and lived an additional 13 years after his first treatment.

Fact #9: Sir Harold Percival Himsworth published research in 1936 that talked about the difference between type 1 and type 2 diabetes. His idea was that many people with the condition had insulin resistance instead of insulin deficiency.

Modern Day Discoveries

Fact #10: Scientists created Humulin, the first human-based insulin, in 1978. This insulin is identical in structure to the insulin produced by the human body.

Fact #11: It was nearly another 20 years before short-acting insulin was available. In 1996, Lispro became available, which starts working around 15 minutes after being injected, and continues to work for two to four hours.

Fact #12: The first glucose monitors weren’t available for home use until the 1980s. They gave people with diabetes an accurate way to keep track of their blood sugar levels, making them easier to manage.

Fact #13: Insulin pens first became available in 1986, providing people with diabetes with a safe and convenient way to deliver accurate doses of insulin.

Fact #14: Insulin pumps were eventually invented in the 1990s, offering an easy and flexible treatment option for people with diabetes.

So there you have it! 14 interesting facts about the history of diabetes. How many had you not heard before?

Sources:

Medical News Today, 2019. Diabetes: Past treatments, new discoveries. [webpage] Available at: https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/317484 [Accessed 04/06/2021].

Lakhtakia, R., 2013. The History of Diabetes Mellitus. Sultan Qaboos Univ Med J, [online]. Available at: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3749019/  

Ahmed, A.W., 2002. History of Diabetes Mellitus. Saudi Medical Journal, [online]. Available at: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/11953758/

Healthline, 2018. History of Diabetes. [webpage] Available at: https://www.healthline.com/health/history-type-1-diabetes [Accessed 04/06/2021].

Defeat Diabetes Foundation, 2014. Diabetes History. [webpage] Available at: https://defeatdiabetes.org/diabetes-history/ [Accessed 04/06/2021].

Karamanou, M., 2016. Milestones in the history of diabetes mellitus: The main contributors. World Journal of Diabetes, [online]. Available at: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4707300/

Science Museum Group, 2020. Leonard Thompson. [webpage] Available at: https://collection.sciencemuseumgroup.org.uk/people/cp167047/leonard-thompson [Accessed 04/06/2021].

The New England Journal of Medicine, 2012. The Past 200 Years in Diabetes. [webpage] Available at: https://www.nejm.org/doi/10.1056/NEJMra1110560 [Accessed 04/06/2021].

Professional Diabetes, 2020. History of Glucose Monitoring. [webpage] Available at: https://professional.diabetes.org/sites/professional.diabetes.org/files/media/db201811.pdf [Accessed 04/06/2021].