Why The Discovery of Insulin is a Defining Moment in Canadian History

Matthews, David. Diabetes. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2008. eBook Collection (EBSCOhost). Web. 24 Oct. 2013.

Frederick Banting’s main success was becoming the co-discoverer of insulin, but it was not his first major accomplishment. During the first world war, a heroic sacrifice earned him the Military Cross. As a student, Banting enlisted in the Canadian Army Medical Corps and after graduation, was sent to Europe to serve as a medical officer. In the last days of the war, seriously injured and

Diabetes, Diabetes Mellitus, is a chronic illness this means that it has no cure and the symptoms persist over a long period of time. This illness is a result of an imbalance of hormones, insulin, produced in the pancreas. Insulin plays an important role in how the body uses food. Insulin enables the cells in the bloodstream to absorb and use glucose for fuel. If the pancreas produces too little or no insulin or if the insulin doesn’t work properly the person may become diabetic. Therefore, diabetics are not able to properly convert food into fuels needed by the body to function, which can seriously lead to physical consequences.

Uncontrolled diabetes can affect nearly every organ of the body; of which, heart disease and kidney failure are most commonly impacted. Known as diabetes mellitus, a collective term for various blood abnormalities, the term diabetes refers to either a scarcity of insulin in the body or the body’s inability to accept insulin. Though the symptoms of diabetes are manageable, many are unaware as to having it. According to the CDC report “2011 Diabetes Fact Sheet,” approximately 6 million people in the United States have undiagnosed diabetes. Undetected, diabetes can become deadly. In a recent World Health Organization report “Diabetes Action Now: An Initiative of the World Health Organization and the International Diabetes Federation,” it

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

Banting enlisted in the military during the First World War as a medical officer. He was awarded a military cross for his efforts. After the war Banting returned to Canada and became a medical practitioner in London, ONT. He then had an idea on a medicine for diabetes, so he went to Toronto and started working with assigned partner Charles Best. On May 3, 1922 in Washington DC the discovery was announced.

Diabetes is a disease that affects the body’s ability to produce or use insulin. It is a precursor to numerous other diseases, which can quickly deteriorate patient’s health if

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.

Diabetes Mellitus is not a new disease. It was first recognized in ancient Egypt around 1500 B.C.E. It was considered a rare condition in comparison to present times. In 1812, diabetes was acknowledged as a clinical disorder. However, its prevalence at the time was not well documented. During those time periods, diabetes was considered fatal (Polonsky, 2014). The most significant progress came with the discovery of insulin. In 1921, Frederick G. Banting, MD and then student assistant, Charles H. Best, made the discovery of insulin. This discovery led Dr. Banting to being

The development of insulin saved many lives throughout the 1920’s. Insulin allows your body to turn blood sugar into energy, and diabetes patients don’t have an important hormone called insulin. In fact, thousands of people had this issue. In the 1900’s, the only treatments for diabetes were starvation diets and very strict exercise program. Dr. Frederick Bating, the inventor of insulin, had spent a lot of his time studying the disease of diabetes. He thought if he could isolate insulin in animals, it would be possible to use it to treat people with diabetes. Later on his theory proved to be correct. Dr. Frederick Banting needed a lab to test his theory and work on it so he could have insulin mass produced and treat the disease of diabetes.

Subsequently, in the middle of May in 1921, he met Charles Herbert Best, who seemed to be the complete opposite of Fredrick Banting. Bankston says in chapters six and seven, how these two men constantly worked in the lab together; they did many pancreatectomies on different types of dogs. On page sixty-two, Bliss says that they started to experiment on many diabetic dogs. An experiment consisted of surgically ligating the pancreas and stopping nourishment flow to the pancreas. Therefore, the pancreas would degenerate. The pieces of the pancreas were then put into a water and salt substance and frozen. These were then filtered and ground up, which created a substance called isletin. Furthermore, they would take the isletin and inject it into a diabetic dog. After this, the dog seemed to be much stronger and healthier, and its blood sugar dropped.

When he survived the doctors had enough proof that it worked and could be used on diabetic patients all over the world. "With the relief of the symptoms of his disease, and with the increased strength and vigor resulting from the increased diet, the pessimistic, melancholy diabetic becomes optimistic and cheerful. Insulin is not a cure for diabetes; it is a treatment." (Sir Frederick Banting, Nobel Prize Lecture, 1923). There discovery of insulin helped change the world forever by finally finding the treated for a "disease with a previous mortality rate of 30% "(www.dww.com 2011). Frederick Banting was a man who focused on using the knowledge he possessed to help the health and safety of others.

Collips was able to purify Banting and Bests crude extract of insulin. By the 11th of January of the year 1922, a fourteen year old boy named Leonard Thompson, received the first pure extract of insulin. He was weeks away from death when he received the treatment. However, the first administration of the extract failed. A few days later, on the 23rd of January, they administered the extract again and this time it was a success! At this time, only a few patients were able to receive the insulin treatment because it could not be mass produced yet. In 1923, both Banting and Macleod were jointly awarded the Nobel Prize for medicine because of their discovery. (Turner, Novo Story of Insulin - Part 2, n.d.)

Diabetes was know as a fatal disease during the 1800’s and the increase in sugar in the urine and blood were known symptoms. Due to the lack of research and modern medicine the only thing that could have been done was be put on a strict diet for meals, however this didn’t really help to cure or treat diabetes.

Diabetes is a major problem in our society today. Many people have heard about the disease; however, they do not know too much about its complications. Diabetes is a chronic, progressive and lifelong condition that affects the body’s ability to use the energy found in food (WebMD, 2016). Many new cases are confirmed every year and unfortunately, many go undiagnosed for years. Diabetes is a serious disease and need to be taking seriously. The disease can lead to many other health problems such as blindness, nerve damage and kidney diseases. The more the community understand and made aware of the seriousness of the disease, the better it can be control and or prevented.