Frederick Banting and the Relatively Recent Discovery That Has Saved Hundreds of Millions of Lives

TL;DR

Insulin, a product extracted from the pancreas, was discovered in 1921 and revolutionized the treatment of diabetes.

Transcript

According to the World Health Organization, about 347 million people worldwide have diabetes. Because diabetes treatments are so common today, it can be easy to forget that the disease can be fatal. In fact, it is approximately the seventh leading cause of death worldwide. Luckily, many people diagnosed with diabetes today enjoy healthy, otherwise ... Read More

Key Insights

• ⌛ Diabetes has been known since ancient times and was once a death sentence.
• ❓ Early treatments for diabetes included herbal mixtures and a starvation diet.
• 🤵 Insulin was discovered in 1921 by Frederick Banting and Charles Best through experiments on dogs.
• ❓ The first successful human trials of insulin were conducted on Leonard Thompson and Elizabeth Hughes.
• 🆘 Insulin was purified and its proper dosage determined with the help of biochemist Bertram Collip.
• 🏆 Banting and Macleod were awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for the discovery of insulin.
• 😡 Banting was initially angry that Best was not included in the prize, but Macleod's contributions were recognized.

Questions & Answers

Q: How was diabetes diagnosed and treated before the discovery of insulin?

Before insulin, diabetes was diagnosed based on symptoms like sweet-tasting urine and excessive thirst. Treatment included herbal mixtures and a starvation diet.

Q: How did Banting and Best discover insulin?

Banting and Best experimented on dogs by removing or ligating the pancreas. They found that injecting pancreatic extract reversed diabetes symptoms.

Q: Who were the first humans to receive insulin treatment?

The first human guinea pig was Leonard Thompson, a 14-year-old boy who was near death when he received insulin. Elizabeth Hughes, the daughter of a prominent American, also received successful insulin treatment.

Q: How was insulin purified and its dosage determined?

Biochemist Bertram Collip joined the team to purify insulin and determine the proper dosage for humans. They switched from dog pancreas to cow pancreas and discovered glucose alleviated insulin overdose symptoms.

Summary & Key Takeaways

• Diabetes, a once fatal disease, was known since ancient times and was characterized by excessive urination, thirst, and appetite.

• Early treatments included a mixture of plants and a starvation diet for symptom relief.

• In 1921, Frederick Banting and Charles Best discovered insulin, a pancreatic extract that effectively treated diabetes.