The History of Insulin

Insulin is one of the greatest medical discoveries of all time! Before the invention of insulin, diabetes was a death sentence where people diagnosed with the disease could prolong their life for a couple of years with strict minimal sugar diets but eventually the person grew very weak and died.
Diabetes is a disease that affects metabolism. "Metabolism  refers to the way our bodies use digested food for energy and growth." Most food is broken down into glucose, a type of sugar, which is then used to power the cells of our body.
Insulin is produced in the beta cells of the pancreas. Beta-cells, which were later called islets of Langerhans, were discovered by Paul Langerhans, a German Medical Student, in 1869.

The relationship between the pancreas and and diabetes was first noticed in Germany in 1889 by "German physiologist Oskar Minkowski  and physician Joseph von Mering."

 When you consume glucose, insulin is released to regulate the level of sugar in your blood and allow the glucose to leave the blood stream and enter the cells of the body. A person with diabetes that consumes sugar without insulin gets very high blood sugar levels which can be harmful and threaten the life of the person as the body cells are not able to get glucose and thus cannot get the energy needed to live and grow.

There are three types of diabetes: type 1, type 2, and gestational diabetes. Type 1 diabetes is where the pancreas doesn't produce any insulin. Type 2 diabetes is where the pancreas doesn't  produce enough insulin. Gestational diabetes is where a woman develops diabetes only during her pregnancy.

In 1920 Dr. Frederick Banting, an Ontario, Canada native, developed a theory that by injecting pancreatic juices into a person with diabetes, the diabetes could be cured. Dr. Banting voiced his theory to "Professor John Macleod at the University of Toronto" who agreed to fund the project for experimentation. Dr. Banting was given a small, insufficiently equipped lab, 10 dogs, and a laboratory assistant, Charles Best, who was a medical student at the time.

Dr. Banting and Best removed the pancreas of several dogs making them diabetic. The diabetic dogs' health then began to deteriorate. Dr. Banting and Best then created a pancreatic slurry consisting of parts of the pancreas from other dogs, water and salt. This solution was injected into the diabetic dogs. The diabetic dogs quickly began to regain strength and become healthier. Dr. Banting and Best called pancreatic slurry isletin, which was later named insulin, at the suggestion of John Macleod, which is reminiscent to the discoverer of the insulin producing islets of Langerhans.

At this time, 1921, Professor John Macleod provided more funding, a better laboratory, and hired biochemist Bertram Collip, who's job it was to 'clean' the insulin sample to prepare it for human testing.

The first human test was conducted in 1922 on a 14 year old diabetic boy, Leonard Thompson. The use of insulin helped the boy to regain strength and health and he went on to live 13 more years, until he died of pneumonia at the age of 27.

Several other diabetics volunteered to try insulin, and they were found to have relatively no diabetic symptoms as long as they had their insulin injection.
In 1923 the Nobel prize committee heard of this discovery and awarded a Nobel prize in Physiology or Medicine to Dr. Frederick Banting and John Macleod. Best and Collip were not recognized for this award by the Noble prize committee so Banting and Macleod shared their prize money with them.

After the discovery of insulin, it began to be produced by Eli Lilly, a medical firm, and there was a large enough supply by 1923 for all diabetics across North America.

Insulin is not a cure for diabetes but it is a treatment that allows diabetics to live a relatively normal life. Insulin is one of the greatest medical discoveries of all time.