When Was Diabetes Discovered

When Was Diabetes Discovered ?

Physicians have been aware of diabetes for over 3500 years, judging by ancient texts, especially in Ayurvedic medicine which originated in India. But other civilizations also knew about the disease which was described differently. Two common features were that the disease was incurable and the patient would inevitably die, and that it was a wasting disease connected with sugar in the urine.

In fact, it was believed that the flesh and bones melted and were washed away in urine.

The naming of the disease ‘diabetes’, or ‘siphon’ in Greek, has been attributed to Aretaeus, a Greek physician who lived 2000 years ago. But his studies too progressed little beyond identifying the disease, with a hypothesis as to how it was caused.

A London physician, Dr. Thomas Willis, in the 17th century determined a method of diagnosing the disease by tasting the patient’s urine for a sweet taste. But he too had no cure to offer.

Insulin, the miracle drug that transformed the treatment of diabetes was discovered in 1921, in Canada, by a young surgeon named Fredrick Banting. He found this miracle extract dropped dangerously high levels of blood sugar to almost normal levels giving a patient a new lease of life.

A further breakthrough came in 1935 with the discovery, by Roger Hinsworth, of type 1 and type 2 diabetes. He found out that the first was ‘insulin sensitive’ and the second ‘insulin insensitive’. This find opened up a new vista to treatment.

Urine strips to detect the presence of sugar was developed in the 1960s.

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When Was Diabetes Discovered

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Who Discovered Diabetes ?

It is not correctly known who discovered diabetes. There is evidence that ancient civilizations of India, Greece, Egypt, Rome and China were aware of the disease centuries ago, but the Egyptians identified it 3500 years ago. It has been variously described, but the striking feature appears to be the sweet effect of urine in a diabetic. Medieval doctors called it the ‘sweet urine disease’. There are texts in existence that make reference to its treatment. More..