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$Title{Diabetes:  Not a New Disease}
$Subject{Diabetes diabetic diabetics Disease diseases cause causes caused
environment environmental insulin treat treatment treatments mellitus die died
dead death deaths urine develop development genetic Genetics inherit
inheritance heredity Life style obese obesity fat immune system auto cell
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Diabetes Mellitus*0009802.scf
Structure of the Pancreas*0009801.scf
The Functions of Insulin*0009803.scf}

Copyright (c) 1993  Tribune Media Services, Inc.


Diabetes:  Not a New Disease


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QUESTION:  Many new diseases have been discovered even during the short time I
have walked on this earth, and although I can remember diabetes making the
headlines during my youth, it seems that it too was discovered in this
century.  Isn't it possible that the true cause of diabetes is in the same
environmental changes that now seem to be at the base of so many diseases
doctors treat today?  I would very much like to know your point of view on
this, for I believe you are interested in such things.

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ANSWER:  Indeed there was great news about diabetes early in this century when
Frederick Banting, a research physician at the University of Toronto, and one
of the medical students attending there, Charles Best, discovered insulin in
1921.  Insulin became the first effective treatment for the disease "diabetes
mellitus", which until that time was a condition that led to wasting and
death.  But diabetes has been known for hundreds of years, and its name
reveals the keen observation of the physicians of ancient Greece.  They
observed that diabetics drank a great deal, and urinated frequently, as if the
water just passed through them.  Something like a "siphon", they thought, and
that is the derivation of the word "diabetes".  "Mellitus" comes from a Latin
version of the Greek word for "honey".  In the days before sensitive tests for
the presence of sugar in the urine or blood, physicians relied on their sense
of taste, and diagnosed the disease from the sweet flavor of a diabetic's
urine.
     There are many factors which lead to the development of the disease.
Genetics and inheritance are certainly two of the most important contributing
essentials.  Life style and obesity can often be the precipitating factors,
and it now seems that the immune system may be involved as well, as an auto
immune condition may be at the root of destruction of the cells which normally
produce insulin.  But the history of the disease, and its presence in ancient
times, speaks against the theory that is simply the result of environmental
changes of our modern world.  It is however, a most important health problem
as an estimated 13 to 15 million Americans have diabetes, with a cost to
society of about $20.4 billion a year in lost time from work, plus the
additional costs of medical care and Social Security disability payments.

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The material contained here is "FOR INFORMATION ONLY" and should not replace
the counsel and advice of your personal physician.  Promptly consulting your
doctor is the best path to a quick and successful resolution of any medical
problem.