From the mention of Diabetes on papyrus to the development of insulin patches, it has been a long journey. The history of diabetes is fascinating. With more and more Indians being diagnosed with diabetes every year, and no end to this trend in sight, it is essential to learn as much as possible about this disease. It is important to understand the history behind the newer inventions as medicine always has ancient roots and branches that embrace every human culture.

From folklore medicine of prehistoric period to the newest treatment methodologies, the entire process has been a very long journey, which has undergone several changes over the centuries. All these developments have contributed towards meliorating the quality of life and increasing the life span.

So, let’s have a look on what history beholds for the most commonly diagnosed chronic illness – ‘Diabetes.’

1552 B.C

• Egyptian physician Hesy-Ra makes the first known mention of diabetes, which is found on the Ebers Papyrus and lists remedies to combat the ‘passing of too much urine’

1000 B.C.

• Indian physician, Sushruta, discovers diabetes. In ancient times, Indians called diabetes as ‘sweet urine disease,’ and observe whether ants are attracted to urine as a test for diabetes

1st Century A.D

• Greek physician Aretaeus of Cappadocia defined diabetes as ‘the softening down of limbs and flesh into urine’

11th Century

• During this period, Diabetes was commonly diagnosed by 'water tasters,' who drank the urine of those suspected of having diabetes; the urine of people with diabetes was thought to be sweet-tasting

1425

• Diabetes first appeared in the English language as the Middle English word ‘diabete’

16th Century

• Swiss physician Phillipus Aureolus identified diabetes as a serious general disorder

1675

• English physician, Dr. Thomas Willis, adds the word mellitus, Latin for “honey,” to the term diabetes, due to the sweet taste of diabetic urine

1776

• English physician Matthew Dobson of Liverpool evaporated two quarts of urine from a patient with diabetes. The resulting residue was granulated, and the smell and taste was like sugar, conclusively establishing the presence of ‘saccharine materials’ as a diagnosis of diabetes

1800s

• During this period, the first chemical tests were done to specify and determine the existence of sugar in the urine. Also, extensive research has been done by many researchers on the working of the glycogen metabolism of the pancreas and the liver. The diabetic patients were separated from other patients and were made to follow strict diets

1869

• German pathologist, physiologist and biologist, Paul Langerhans, discovered the islet cells of the pancreas during his studies for his doctorate at the Berlin Pathological Institute

1871

• Apollinaire Bouchardat found that some diabetic patients had less sugar in the urine. He realized after a while that his patients' diet had changed as they had less food during the war between France and Germany. He, therefore, started to tell his patients to eat less

1889

• Scientists Oskar Minkowski and Joseph von Mering of the University of Strasbourg, France demonstrated that removing a dog’s pancreas produces diabetes

1900s

• The diet therapy for the diabetic patients included the milk, potato therapy, oat cure, rice cure and opium
• The leading diabetes specialist, Joslin in the US described diabetes as the ‘one of the chronic disease’ as it was considered as clean and infrequent and not contagious, involves no pain and vulnerable to treatment

1901

• American pathologist Eugene Opie of John Hopkins University in Baltimore established a connection between the failure of the islets of Langerhans in the pancreas and the occurrence of diabetes

1910

• Sir Edward Albert Sharpey-Schafer, an English physiologist, coined the word ‘Insulin’ after theorizing that a single substance from the pancreas was responsible for diabetes mellitus

1921

• Canadian scientists Fredrick G. Banting, Charles H. Best, J.J.R. Macleod and James B. Collip discovered ‘Insulin’, a peptide (small protein hormone) which lowers blood sugar. They extracted insulin from the islets of animal pancreases

1922

• Pharmaceutical manufacturer Eli Lilly & Co. of Indianapolis and the University of Toronto entered into a deal for the mass production of insulin

 25 Oct., 1923

• Banting and Macleod were awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine. Banting shared his award with Best, while Macleod shared his with Collip

1942

• The first sulfonylureas were identified

1944

• The standard insulin syringe was introduced so to make diabetes management more uniform

1959

• Researchers identified type 1 diabetes (insulin dependent) and type 2 diabetes (non-insulin dependent)

1966

• First pancreas transplant performed at the University of Manitoba

1961

• Becton-Dickinson marketed a single-use syringe

1969

• Ames Diagnostics created the first portable blood glucose meter

1970

• Insulin pumps and blood glucose meters were developed
• Laser therapy also progressed, which helped in preventing the diabetic patients from blindness

1977

• The radioimmunoassay for insulin is discovered by Rosalyn Yalow and Solomon Berson

1979

• The Hemoglobin A1c test was created for the precise measurement of blood sugar control

1979

• The Derma-Ject Needle-Free Insulin Delivery System was marketed by The Derata Corporation

1982

• Humulin insulin - the first biosynthetic human insulin was approved for mass production

1995

• Precose and Metformin are approved for use by type-2 diabetics

1999

• Scientists conducted the first successful islet transplant at the University of Alberta Hospital

20 Dec., 2006

• The United Nations recognized diabetes as a global threat and designated 14th November as World Diabetes Day – in honour of Frederick Banting’s birthday – a UN Day to be observed every year starting in 2007

2007

• A trial of 15 newly diagnosed patients treated with stem cells raised from their own bone marrow demonstrated that most of the patients no longer required insulin treatment for extended periods of time