Diabetes Timeline
| 1552 B.C. |
Earliest known record of diabetes mentioned on 3rd Dynasty Egyptian papyrus by physician Hesy-Ra;
mentions polyuri (frequent urination) as a symptom. |
| 1st Century A.D. |
Diabetes described by Arateus as "the melting down of the flesh and limbs into urine." |
| c. 164 A.D. |
Greek physician Galen of Pergamuun mistakenly diagnoses diabetes as an ailment of the kidneys. |
| Up to 11th Century |
Diabetes commonly diagnosed by "water tasters," who drank the urine of those suspected of
having diabetes; the urine of people with diabetes was thought to be sweet-tasting. The
Latin word for honey (referring to its sweetness), "mellitus", is added to the term diabetes as a result |
| 16th Century |
Paracelsus identifies diabetes as a serious general disorder. |
| Early 19th Century |
First chemical tests developed to indicate and measure the presence of sugar in urine. |
| late 1850s |
French physician, Priorry, advises diabetes patients to eat extra large quantities of sugar as
a treatment |
| 1870s |
French physician, Bouchardat, notices the disapperance of glycosuria in his diabetes patients during the
rationing of food in Paris while under by Germany during the Franco-Prusssian War; formulates
idea of individualized diets for his diabetes patients. |
| 19th Century |
French researcher Claude Bernard studies the working of the pancreas and the glycogen metabolism
of the liver. |
| 19th Century |
Czech researcher I.V. Pavlov discovers the links between the nervoooous system and gastric
secretion, making an important contribution to science's knowledge of the physiology of the
digestive system. |
| Late 19th Century |
Italian diabetes specialist, Catoni, isloates his patients under lock and key in order to get them
to follow their diets. |
| 1869 |
Paul Langerhans, a German medical student, announces in a dissertation that the pancreas
contains two systems of cells. One set secrets the normal pancreatic jucie, the function of the other
was unknown. Several years later, these cells are identified as the "islets of Langerhans." |
| 1889 |
Oskar Minkowski and Joseph von Mering at the University of Strasbourg, Austria, first remove
the pancreas from a dog to determine the effect of an absent pancreas on digestion.
|
| November 14, 1891 |
Frederick Banting born near Alliston, Ontario. His parents, devout Methodist's tried to pressure
their son into joining the ministry; however, Banting enrols in medicine at the University of Toronto in
1912, instead. |
| February 28, 1899 |
Charles Best born in West Pembroke, Maine. |
| 1900-1915 |
"Fad" diabetes diets include; the "oat-cure" (in which the majority of diet was made up of oatmeal),
the milk diet, the rice cure, "potato therapy" and even the use of opium! |
| 1908 |
German scientist, Georg Zuelzer develops the first injectible pancretic extract to suppress
glycosuria, however, there are extreme side effects to the treatment. |
| 1910-1920 |
Frederick Madison Allen and Elliot P. Joslin emerge as the two leading diabetes
specialists in the USA. Joslin believes diabetes to be "the best of the chronic diseases"
because it was "clean, seldom unsightly, not contagious, often painless and susceptible to treatment." |
| 1913 |
Allen, after three years of diabetes study, publishes Studies Concerning Glycosuria and
Diabetes, a book which is significant for the revolution in diabetes therapy that
developed from it. |
| 1919 |
Frederick Allen publishes Total Dietary Regulation in the Treatment of Diabetes
, citing exhaustive case records of 76 of the 100 diabetes patients he observed, becomes the
director of diabetes research at the Rockefeller Institute. |
| 1919-20 |
Allen establishes the first treatment clinc in the USA, the Physiatric in New Jersey, to treat patients with
diabetes, high blod pressure and Bright's disease; wealthy and desperate patients flock to it. |
| July 1, 1920 |
Dr. Banting opens his first office in London, Ontario; he receives his first patient on July
29th; his total earnings for the first month of work is $4.00. |
| October 30, 1920 |
Dr. Banting conceives of the idea of insulin after reading Moses Barron's "The Relation of the
Islets of Langerhans to Diabetes with special Reference to Cases of Pancreatic Listhiasis"
in the November issuse of Surgery, Gynecology and Obstetrics. For the next year, with the
assistance of Drs. Best, Collip and Macleod, Dr. Banting continues his research using a variety of differnt
extracts on de-pancreatized dogs. |
| December 30, 1921 |
Dr. Banting presents a paper entitled "The Beneficial Influences of Certain Pancreatic Extracts
on Pancreatic Diabetes," summarizing his work to this point at a session of the American Physiological
Society at Yale University. Among the attendees are Allen and Joslin. Little prasie or congratulation
is received. |
| January 23, 1922 |
One of Banting's insulin extracts first tested on a human being, a 14-year-old boy named
Leonard Thompson, in Toronto; treatment considered a success by the end of the following February |
| May 21, 1922 |
James Habens becomes the first American succcessfully treated with insulin. |
| May 30, 1923 |
Eli Lilly and Company, and the University of Toronto enter a deal for the mass production of
insulin in North America. |
| October 25 1923 |
Dr. Banting awarded the Nobel Prize for Medicine; shares his award with Dr. Best. |
| 1934 |
Dr. Banting is Knighted, becoming Sir Frederick Banting. |
| February 21, 1941 |
Sir Frederick Banting is killed in an airplane crash over Newfoundland while on route to England. |
| 1953 |
First incarnation of the CDA established in Ontario. |
| 1971 |
50th Anniversary of the discovery of insulin celebrated worldwide. |
| July 7, 1989 | Opening of the
Banting Museum and Education Centre in London, Ontario; Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth
the Queen Mother lights the Flame of Hope |
| 1996 |
75th Aniversary of the Discovery of Insulin celebrated |