The History of the Discovery of Insulin, a Medical Miracle for Diabetics

KOMPAS.com – Before insulin was discovered, diabetes as if it were a death sentence for the sufferer.

Back then, those diagnosed with diabetes had little life expectancy because there wasn’t much doctors could do to help.

Calorie restriction is the only way to help diabetics survive longer.

Loss of limbs, blindness, kidney failure, stroke, and heart attack are some conditions that can be experienced by diabetics.

The nightmare of diabetics finally ended after in 1921, a Canadian orthopedic surgeon, Frederick Banting, and his medical student assistant, Charlest Best, discovered insulin.

Read also: How Can Insulin Treat Diabetes?

Banting and Best’s research builds on findings from studies over the past 40-50 years showing that the pancreas, particularly the islets of Langerhans (endocrine pancreas), can aid carbohydrate metabolism.

Reported from Post Medical History, Initially, Banting and Best removed pancreatic organs from several dogs, which later showed symptoms of diabetes, to be ground and made into a brown extract.

Then, the dogs were injected with a different pancreatic extract.

The results showed that blood sugar levels decreased and the dog’s health condition with diabetes began to improve.

Banting and Best repeated this experiment with a dog with severe diabetes. The dog can live for 70 days before the pancreatic extract that is given runs out and he eventually dies.

Read also: Sugary Foods and Drinks Can Trigger Diabetes, What is the Recommended Sugar Level?

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