When was diabetes first recognized and described as a specific medical condition? How was it treated before insulin was available? I found out recently that my great-grandmother, b. 1882, d. 1940, died of diabetes. How would this disease have been managed in her day? And centuries ago, did people recognize the symptoms of diabetes, or was it seen as just another random illness?
try this site
Besides there being two types of diabetes mellitus (Type I and Type II), there is also diabetes insipidus, which is an entirely different disease. Apparently when people refer to “diabetes” (such as in the link) they actually mean “diabetes mellitus” the more common one.
or this one (even better)
to google is a fun way to waste a lot of time
on second thoughts, replace waste with spend.
i believe (although this could be legend) that diabetes was correlated with a dysfunctional pancreas when a certain surgeon noticed funny dog urine.
he had performed pancreatectomies (haven’t a clue as to spelling or correctness) on a handful of dogs, and those dogs urine collected a significant number of flies.
see Willis in johncole’s post, and put two and two together. this surgeon did.
jb
p.s.- you know what they say about collecting more flies with diabetic urine than with vinegar
I’ve heard a story that the ancient Greeks knew about it because ants would swarm over to the sweet urine.
Before insulin injections were available, one treatment for juvenile diabetes (diabetes mellitus, Type I) was to have the child lose weight to almost skeletal appearance, which changed the metabolism enough to counterract the diabetes. A documentary I saw on cable TV about the discovery and manufacture of insulin showed several photographs of these unfortunate children.
Early treatments for diabetes mellitus: