A History of Diabetes and the Amazing Discovery of Insulin

The Poor Historians: Medical History Misadventures

We're back!
Many people know that insulin is an important part of the treatment for diabetes. In this episode we'll talk about how insulin was discovered and first used to treat a disease that, throughout the whole of human history, was previously fatal. We'll explain what diabetes is, how it used to be treated in the age before insulin, and how a brilliant cohort including a Canadian orthopedic surgeon and fellow scientists finally figured out a revolutionary way to treat this disease. We'll also discuss a bit of unsavory history regarding the pharmaceutical industry which managed to preserve profits even despite the best efforts of the discoverers of insulin, to protect the patent from such profiteering. Scientific idealism meets a sad reality.
Sources / Articles:
-A history of insulin: initial discovery to first use in the treatment of T1D: https://www.nature.com/articles/d42859-021-00004-3

-100 Years of Insulin: https://penntoday.upenn.edu/news/100-years-insulin

-The Discovery of Insulin: An Important Milestone in the History of Medicine: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6205949/

-https://www.vox.com/2019/4/3/18293950/why-is-insulin-so-expensive

-https://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/release/why_people_with_diabetes_cant_buy_generic_insulin

-https://www.diabetes.org.uk/research/research-impact/insulin

-https://www.si.edu/spotlight/insulin-and-diabetes-management/insulin
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