Diabetes has been known to man since the time of ancient civilization. It was known to the ancient Greeks, Egyptians, Babylonians, partisans, Chinese and Indians. They identified it with the sweat taste of urine.
In India, sushruta (6th century B.C.E.) called it “medhumeha” which means “sweet urine disease”. Its modern name “diabetes”, was coined by aretaeus of cappadocia. He got it from the Greek words “Dia” which means “across part” and “Bainein” meaning “to walk or stand”. When combined it becomes “Diabeinein”, which means to straddle, walk or stand with legs asunder. The word “Diabetes” means “one that straddles”. This name is attributes to the fact that the legs are made wide apart during urination.
Thomas Willis added “Mellitus”, in 1675, to the name. Mellitus means”honey” in Latin. Then, it had several ways of being tested. The ancient Indians tested it by observing whether ants were attracted to the urine. In other parts of the world, It was (and is still) tested by tasting the urine to discover whether it has sugary taste. Its cause was also identified with several factors. Sushruta of India identified it with obesity and sedentary lifestyle.
Avicenna of Persia described diabetes gangrene. Both he and Aretaeus independently identified both primary and secondary diabetes. He treated diabetes using mixture of lupine, trigonella (fenugreek) and zedoary seed, While sushurta advised exercise for cure.
Today, there has been no known cure for diabetes. though research is going on in different part of the world to find a cure, its incident has remained on the rise.
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