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Insulin: The Miracle Discovery That Defied Death
11 Jan
Summary
- Diabetes is a chronic disease linked to insulin regulation of blood glucose.
- Type 1 diabetes, fatal in the early 20th century, now treatable with insulin.
- Insulin discovery by Banting and Best led to commercial availability by 1923.
Diabetes, a chronic condition related to insulin's role in blood glucose regulation, encompasses Type 1 and Type 2. Historically, Type 1 diabetes was almost always fatal, with limited treatment options focusing on strict diets. This drastically changed with the groundbreaking discovery of insulin by Canadian surgeon Frederick Banting and research assistant Charles Best.
Their pivotal work in 1921, building on Macleod's research and Collip's purification, led to the isolation and refinement of insulin. The first patient, Leonard Thompson, received an insulin injection on January 11, 1922, marking a turning point. Despite initial setbacks, Thompson showed significant improvement, extending his life by over 13 years.
Commercial availability of insulin followed swiftly by 1923, transforming diabetes from a death sentence to a manageable chronic illness. While Banting and Macleod received the 1923 Nobel Prize, the discovery's legacy is the immense gift of life and health it has provided globally, though diabetes remains an epidemic today.
