History of Diabetes – What You Need to Know

The term diabetes came from the word diabaínein that meant to stride, or stand with legs asunder. Thus, its derivative diabÄ’tÄ’s meant “one that straddles,” or specifically “a compass, siphon. The sense “siphon” gave rise to the use of diabÄ’tÄ’s as the name for a disease involving the rapid elimination of excessive amounts of urine. This term finally gave rise to the English word “diabetes” that refers to the disease of sugar, fat and protein metabolism.

Diabetes was first recorded in English as diabete in medical journals back in 1425. Thomas Willis soon incorporated the word “mellitus” from the Latin word that meant “honey” or saccharine sweetness, as reference to the sweet taste of urine. The Greeks, Egyptians, Chinese, Persians and Indians first came to realize the sweet taste of the urine. In 1776, Mathew Dobson confirmed that the sweet taste was due to the excessive amounts of sugar found in the urine which was primarily manifested by patients who were suffering from Diabetes.

People already had recognized the life threatening consequences of this disease back in the ancient times. Back then, the disease was incurable that is why the Greek philosopher and physician Hippocrates never mentioned it in his medical journals. Another physician who went by the name of Aretaeus did try to search for a cure; however, he was not able to know if his attempts were successful because of the vague prognosis of his patients. He soon remarked in frustration that the life of a diabetic is short, disgusting and excruciating.

In ancient India, the people observed how ants seem to have a liking to the sweet taste of urine. This soon became a confirmatory test that indicates diabetic manifestations. Sushruta, back in 6th Century B.C., classified diabetes as Medhumeha. He also said that this disease results from obesity and sedentary lifestyle. He also advised that exercising will help cure this disease.In East Asia, the Chinese, Japanese, and Koreans all have the same ideographs for diabetes which depicts “sugar urine disease”

In the medieval era, the Avicenna from Persia did an extensive research about diabetes. The details about this disease are found in the journal “The Canon of Medicine” that intricately described the abnormalities that manifest in this disorder. He also was able to classify this disease into the different types of diabetes mellitus. He also mentioned some treatments that include herbs like trigonella, zedoary seeds and lupine which reduce the blood sugar levels. He also wrote detailed information about another classification of Diabetes called Diabetes Insipidus that involves the excessive elimination of urine due to the inability to retain water.

In the middle ages, various treatments have been known to effectively control the disease. How this disease came to be has only been comprehended through experimentation in the 1900’s. Oskar Minkowski, back in 1889 found out how dogs whose pancreas were removed developed all the manifestations of Diabetes and died not long after. In 1910, it was found out that diabetics lack a certain chemical substance in the body which is normally found in the pancreas. Edward Albert Sharpey Schafer soon mentioned the word insulin from the Latin word, insula meaning island with respects to the insulin producing islets of Langerhans found in the pancreas

This finally gave a contribution to how this disease can be controlled pharmacologically. Today, Diabetes is treated by human insulin or manmade insulin derived from animals like cows and hogs.