Frederick Banting Diabetes

Insulin for diabetes was discovered in 1921 at the University of Toronto by Sir Frederick G. Banting, Charles H. Best, and JJR Macleod. James B. Collip subsequently purified it, and one year later on January 11, it was put to use on a young 14 year old boy named Leonard Thompson; a patient at Toronto General Hospital. Once the substance was delivered, it was found that the extract was so pure that he suffered an allergic reaction, and further injections were cancelled. James Collip worked for the next 12 days on improving the ox-pancreas extract, and the second dose given to Thompson on January 23 was completely successful. Prior to this, a type 1 diabetic would be put on a starvation diet, or be limited to a calorie intake of around 450 calories per day, and would only live a few extra months. Leonard Thompson lived another 14 years, until 1935 when he died of pneumonia at the age of 28.

Doctors usually prescribe medicine to control diabetes but not to cure them. With the latest inventions in the field of medicine, a team of doctors have come up with an efficient way to cure diabetes completely.

After reading the first half of chapter two, The Analytic Project, I was most interested in the section titled, The Discovery of Insulin. I furthered my research of this area after reading and was able to better understand insulin and why it was such an important discovery. With that being said, diabetes was the result of malfunctions of the pancreas. Before the discovery of insulin, diabetes was a disease that usually caused death, especially during the late nineteenth century. Many feared this disease, and according to A Philosophy of Science, A new Introduction, most people lost their life within a year of being diagnosed with the disease, even with the best treatment available at the time.

regulate glucose levels had artificially been altered (“The Discovery of Insulin”). The results were groundbreaking and the diabetic dogs responded well to the injections, marking a major step forward in diabetes research (“The Discovery of Insulin”). Through the help of Professor John Macleod of the University of Toronto, they were able to continue their research (“The Discovery of Insulin”). Finally, in January of 1922, testing Dr. Banting’s developments in diabetes treatment on human beings had finally been completed and the results led to the ultimate development of the insulin treatment that is still used to this day (Simoni, Hill and Vaughan 31).

The Diabetes Quebec Association states that in the past, "a diagnosis of diabetes meant certain death". This was held true until a Canadian physician, Frederick Banting, discovered the hormone insulin in 1921. He was able to isolate a unknown matter from the pancreas of a dog and inject it into another dogs pancreas 's. This discovery enabled them to save the lives of these diabetic dogs. Through trial and error Banting was able to perfect the purification of insulin in order for it to be injected on a daily basis to compensate for the insulin not being produced by the pancreas to control the blood sugar in hyperglycemic patients.

In 1941, 20 years after the discovery, Banting was in a terrible plane crash during World War 2. His colleagues, J.J.R. Macleod, Charles Best and James Collip all remembered their partner as someone who “was determined, willful, and frequently difficult.” To others like Zulzer, he was “a disappointed and disillusioned man, . . . an unsociable creature… Not a great scientist, as scientifically trained people appreciate the word, he was primarily… a symbol of medical research”. This passage is important because one sees two sides of Banting and who he was as a scientist. One that was against Banting and his scientific discovery and the other supported him. It is also important to note that even after Banting’s death, he was still criticized for his discovery and that he was not the true person who discovered insulin. People considered him just a symbol of medical research and not one who actually discovered something that impacted many people all over the world in

During the year 1889, two researchers, Joseph Von Mering and Oskar Minkowski, had discovered the disease that is known today as diabetes. Diabetes is a disease in which the insulin levels (a hormone produced in unique cells called the islets of Langerhans found in the pancreas) in the bloodstream are irregular and therefore affect the way the body uses sugars, as well as other nutrients. Up until the 1920’s, it was known that being diagnosed with diabetes was a death sentence which usually affected “children and adults under 30.” Those who were diagnosed were usually very hungry and thirsty, which are two of the symptoms associated with diabetes. However, no matter how much they ate, their bodies wouldn’t be able to use the nutrients due

In the year 1921, insulin became discovered and it helps save countless numbers of lives in the following years. Leading up to this discovery, Fredrick Banting worked very hard to find out what insulin actually is and its function. In chapters two through four, Bankston writes about how Fredrick was born in

Diabetes is a very common chronic medial disorder and expected to be a big medical challenge of the twenty first century (Clark, 2004). It is a condition, in which the glucose level in the blood becomes so high that the body is unable to utilize it properly. This long-term condition results when the pancreas of the victim is either not able to produce enough insulin (sometimes even cannot produce any insulin) or the insulin produced cannot work properly. Diabetes is divided into two main types: Type 1 and Type 2. Type 1, also known as insulin dependent diabetes milletus (Masharani, 2008) cannot be prevent while Type 2 can be prevented but if the patient is at pre-diabetes stage.

First and foremost, Dr. Frederick Banting was able to isolate insulin and use it to treat the metabolic disorder diabetes which has benefited Canada. As a result, numerous individuals have been able to receive treatment which has reduced the number of deaths. This decrease in mortalities has also lowered the number of debilitating conditions resulting from diabetes. In fact, the mortality rate for diabetes over the past forty-five years has dropped by over fifty percent (Center for Disease Control and Prevention). This decrease clearly indicates that the death rates for diabetes is gradually declining. This trend can be followed from the time insulin was discovered and has increased the prognosis and quality of life for many people. In addition, the number of diabetes cases in Canada has risen by almost thirty percent over the past twenty years (Public Health Agency of Canada 2). Although, the number of people living with diabetes is significantly

diabetic people should start treating and managing their type 2 diabetes with diet and exercise and in somehow many people with amount of type 2 diabetes will manage their diabetes with insulin as

Nobel Prize winner Dr. Fredrick Banning once said, “Insulin is not a cure for diabetes; it is a treatment. It enables the diabetic to burn sufficient carbohydrates so that proteins and fats may be added to the diet in sufficient quantities to provide energy for the economic burdens of life”(Banning, 1928). The American Diabetes Association (ADA), states that 9.3% of the population has diabetes, which is why it was the 7th leading cause of death in the Unites States in 2010. The Center for Control Disease (CDC), states individuals younger than 20 years were newly diagnosed with Type 2 Diabetes annually (CDC, 2010). Physicians often instruct patients affected by Type 2 diabetics, to watch their diet and sustain a healthy, more active lifestyle.

There is a device called the bionic pancreas that is being developed by Ed Damiano, whose son, David was diagnosed with diabetes in 2000, gave him the inspiration to find a cure. For nearly fifteen years he has been researching and working on this project. There have been hundreds of successful trials of people with diabetes using the bionic pancreas and the feedback has been mostly positive. Some say the device as life changing. “At the end of one recent trial, an 11-year-old boy liked the bionic pancreas so much that he ran away from the investigators conducting the test, and it took them over an hour to get the device back" (Sifferlin 42+). There has been progress in all types of people. Sifferlin says "The bionic pancreas has successfully worked in people ages 6-76 and weighing 47 lb. to 283 lb." (42+). The bionic pancreas does also have a pain free, easy method of glucose testing since the device checks it continuously. The only requirement for the device to work properly is simply punching in the person's weight (Russell et al. 2148). Unlike the bionic pancreas, islet cell transplantation is limited in becoming a global treatment because of the lack of supply of islet cells. This is due to the fact that there are more people with type 1 diabetes than there are donor pancreases (Islet Transplantation). The bionic pancreas does not have limitations on the device itself that would prevent it from being produced all over the world. In other words, with proper funding the bionic pancreas can be produced for all diabetics. Damiano hopes to have the bionic pancreas affordable and on the market by

The most advanced technology for preventing diabetes currently is the insulin pump. This is a box about the size of a computer mouse and it supplies insulin to your pancreas. It has many advantages but sadly, it has much more disadvantages.

Diabetes is a systemic disease caused by a decrease in the secretion of insulin or reduced sensitivity or responsiveness to insulin by target tissue. (Beale, et al., 2011) The incidence of diabetes is growing rapidly in the United States and worldwide. An estimated 347 million people around the world are afflicted with diabetes. (Whalen, et al., 2012) According to World Health Organization (WHO), Diabetes prevalence among adults over 18 years of age has risen from 4.7% in 1980 to 8.5% in 2014. It is the major cause of blindness, kidney failure, heart attack, stroke and limbic amputation. World Health Organization (WHO) projects that diabetes will be the 7th leading cause of death in 2030. It is a complex and costly disease that can affect nearly every organ in the body and result in devastating consequences. The leading cause of non-traumatic lower extremity amputations, renal failure, and blindness in working-age adults, diabetes is also a major cause of premature mortality, stroke, cardiovascular disease, peripheral vascular disease, congenital malformations, perinatal mortality, and disability. (Cefalu, 2000) Insulin therapy and oral hypoglycemic agents have demonstrated improvement in glycaemic control. However, Insulin therapy has some disadvantages such as ineffectiveness following oral administration, short shelf life, of the need for constant refrigeration, and fatal hypoglycaemia, in the event of excess dosage.