The discovery of insulin at the University of Toronto in 1921-22 was one of the most dramatic events in the history of the treatment of disease. Insulin was a wonder-drug with ability to bring patients back from the very brink of death, and it was no surprise that in 1923 the Nobel Prize for Medicine was awarded to its discoverers, the Canadian research team of Banting, Best, Collip, and Macleod. In this engaging and award-winning account, historian Michael Bliss recounts the fascinating story behind the discovery of insulin – a story as much filled with fiery confrontation and intense competition as medical dedication and scientific genius. Originally published in 1982 and updated in 1996, The Discovery of Insulin has won the City of Toronto Book Award, the Jason Hannah Medal of the Royal Society of Canada, and the William H. Welch Medal of the American Association for the History of Medicine.

When insulin was discovered in the early 1920s, even jaded professionals marveled at how it brought starved, sometimes comatose diabetics back to life. In the twenty-fifth-anniversary edition of a classic, Michael Bliss unearths scientists' memoirs and confidential appraisals of insulin by members of the Nobel Committee. he also resolves a longstanding controversy about scientific collaboration at its most fractious and fascinating: who ultimately deserves credit for the discovery? Bliss's life-and-death saga illuminates one of the most important breakthroughs in the history of medicine.

The discovery of insulin at the University of Toronto in 1921-22 was one of the most dramatic events in the history of the treatment of disease. Insulin was a wonder-drug with ability to bring patients back from the very brink of death, and it was no surprise that in 1923 the Nobel Prize for Medicine was awarded to its discoverers, the Canadian research team of Banting, Best, Collip, and Macleod. In this engaging and award-winning account, historian Michael Bliss recounts the fascinating story behind the discovery of insulin – a story as much filled with fiery confrontation and intense competition as medical dedication and scientific genius. Originally published in 1982 and updated in 1996, The Discovery of Insulin has won the City of Toronto Book Award, the Jason Hannah Medal of the Royal Society of Canada, and the William H. Welch Medal of the American Association for the History of Medicine.

An “inspirational” account of how a young girl plight’s “launched a boon for diabetics the world over . . . A remarkable story . . . worthy reading” (Booklist). It is 1919 and Elizabeth Hughes, the eleven-year-old daughter of America’s most-distinguished jurist and politician, Charles Evans HugheAs, has been diagnosed with juvenile diabetes. It is essentially a death sentence. The only accepted form of treatment—starvation—whittles her down to forty-five pounds of skin and bones. Miles away, Canadian researchers Frederick Banting and Charles Best manage to identify and purify insulin from animal pancreases—a miracle soon marred by scientific jealousy, intense business competition and fistfights. In a race against time and a ravaging disease, Elizabeth becomes one of the first diabetics to receive insulin injections—all while its discoverers and a little known pharmaceutical company struggle to make it available to the rest of the world. Relive the heartwarming true story of the discovery of insulin as it’s never been told before. Written with authentic detail and suspense, and featuring walk-ons by William Howard Taft, Woodrow Wilson, and Eli Lilly himself, among many others. “[A] fascinating tale of Nobel Prize–winning research. . . . This book is an important read for anyone with diabetes. It is an enjoyable read for those who love mystery and human drama.” —Kenneth T. Jackson, Barzun Professor of History, Columbia University

Recounts the life of the Canadian doctor and how his research led to the discovery of insulin and a treatment for diabetes.

A graphic novel that tells the true story of the life-saving discovery of insulin

A history of diabetology told by renowned contributors, many have themselves already become a part of diabetes history. A must-have for every diabetologist! Diabetologists, diabetes educators, and many interested readers will appreciate this book. What is more, countless celebrations are planned for the 100th anniversary of the discovery of insulin: this book provides numerous illustrations, accounts of personal experiences, and critical remarks on the history of diabetology – in addition to the history of insulin. It spans an arc from antiquity to the work of Claude Bernard, Paul Langerhans, Josef von Mering, Apollinaire Bouchardat, Oskar Minkowski, E.P. Joslin, and F.M. Allen. The history of insulin is presented from the perspective of diabetologists from Scotland, Spain, Germany, and Poland. The history of oral antidiabetics is told by Harald Lebovitz, and the chapter about glitazones by Edwin Gale reads like a spy novel! Pierre Lefèbvre describes the work of the diabetologist Jean Pirart and the history of glucagon. Sir George Alberti has provided a chapter about the therapy of ketoacidosis, to which he himself made groundbreaking contributions. Nephropathy is presented by Hans-Henrik Parving, and Eva Kohner, Ronald Klein and Barbara E.K. Klein have contributed a chapter on retinopathy. Other contemporary topics such diabetes in pregnancy, diabetes technology, psychosocial aspects of diabetes, and the history of the EASD and ADA are also included in this book.

One of medicine's most remarkable therapeutic triumphs was the discovery of insulin in 1921. The drug produced astonishing results, rescuing children and adults from the deadly grip of diabetes. But as Chris Feudtner demonstrates, the subsequent transformation of the disease from a fatal condition into a chronic illness is a story of success tinged with irony, a revealing saga that illuminates the complex human consequences of medical intervention. Bittersweet chronicles this history of diabetes through the compelling perspectives of people who lived with this disease. Drawing on a remarkable body of letters exchanged between patients or their parents and Dr. Elliot P. Joslin and the staff of physicians at his famed Boston clinic, Feudtner examines the experience of living with diabetes across the twentieth century, highlighting changes in treatment and their profound effects on patients' lives. Although focused on juvenile-onset, or Type 1, diabetes, the themes explored in Bittersweet have implications for our understanding of adult-onset, or Type 2, diabetes, as well as a host of other diseases that, thanks to drugs or medical advances, are being transformed from acute to chronic conditions. Indeed, the tale of diabetes in the post-insulin era provides an ideal opportunity for exploring the larger questions of how medicine changes our lives.

Diabetes is a disease with a fascinating history and one that has been growing dramatically with urbanization. According to the World Health Authority, it now affects 4.6% of adults over 20, reaching 30% in the over 35s in some populations. It is one of the most serious and widespread diseases today. But the general perception of diabetes is quite different. At the beginning of the 20th century, diabetes sufferers mostly tended to be middle-aged and overweight, and could live tolerably well with the disease for a couple of decades, but when it occasionally struck younger people, it could be fatal within a few months. The development of insulin in the early 1920s dramatically changed things for these younger patients. But that story of the success of modern medicine has tended to dominate public perception, so that diabetes is regarded as a relatively minor illness. Sadly, that is far from the case, and diabetes can produce complications affecting many different organs. Robert Tattersall, a leading authority on diabetes, describes the story of the disease from the ancient writings of Galen and Avicenna to the recognition of sugar in the urine of diabetics in the 18th century, the identification of pancreatic diabetes in 1889, the discovery of insulin in the early 20th century, the ensuing optimism, and the subsequent despair as the complexity of this now chronic illness among its increasing number of young patients became apparent. Yet new drugs are being developed, as well as new approaches to management that give hope for the future. Diabetes affects many of us directly or indirectly through friends and relatives. This book gives an authoritative and engaging account of the long history and changing perceptions of a disease that now dominates the concerns of health professionals in the developed world. Diabetes: the biography is part of the Oxford series, Biographies of Diseases, edited by William and Helen Bynum. In each individual volume an expert historian or clinician tells the story of a particular disease or condition throughout history - not only in terms of growing medical understanding of its nature and cure, but also shifting social and cultural attitudes, and changes in the meaning of the name of the disease itself.

Galenical pharmacy or galenics is the science dealing with the pro duction of drug substances from raw materials, the purity of such substances, their formulation into pharmaceutical preparations with the desired effects and safety in use, and the quality control, stability and storage of the preparations. The field has taken its name from the Greek physician Galen (131-201 A.D.), who had a profound influence on medicine for many centuries because he collected and systematized the medicinal knowledge of his time. The discovery of insulin is attributed to Banting and Best who, in 1921, prepared an extract of the pancreas of the fetal calf and showed that the extract was capable of reducing the blood sugar level of a diabetic dog. This outstanding discovery gave rise to the rapid develop ment of the manufacture of insulin of bovine and porcine origin. By 1925, two Danish manufacturers of insulin preparations were established; both have since been in the forefront ofthe development of insulin preparations, the latest achievement being the marketing of human insulin by Novo in 1982. The development of highly purified human insulin produced semisynthetically from porcine insulin or by DNA recombinant methods are significant contributions to safe and efficient insulin therapy. Insulin is a protein which is destroyed in the gastrointestinal tract.