The Origin and History of Diabetes

Diabetes was first defined in 100 BS when a Greek physician said that it was a highly "mysterious disease". This definition remains true till today as the causes of it and its complications are still not explained properly. The word itself comes from Greek where it means "outflow"; so actually it means "out flowing of glucose" (by one of its main symptoms - the extensive loss of glucose with urine.In 17th century English anatomist and physician (born January 27, 1621) Tomas Willis found the sweet taste of urine of patients with diabetes. This was then used by physicians to diagnose the disease. More than 100 years after that, Mering and Mincovsky removed pancreatic gland in animals and by this found the connection between diabetes and the gland. In 1921, two European physicians Banty and Best extracted insulin from pancreatic tissues. This substance stopped the symptoms in diabetic dogs.First cured in people: In early twenties of the 19th century, insulin was first used to treat a man with diabetes.In 1960, the chemical structure of human insulin was determined and in 1979, the human insulin was created by genetic engineering.That was the start of the successful controlling the disease. The humanity didn't learn to cure diabetes but we now can live with it.