Some scientist who have
made discoveries that have changed the world have discovered formulas that destroy
things or formulas that give reason and evidence to the existence and method of
things that happen. Scientist from Toronto, Canada along with man’s best
friend, have discovered a medicine that has forever changed mankind to be able
to live longer. The invention is “Insulin”
and the scientist were Dr. Frederick Banting, Charles Best, biochemist
Bertram Collip, Professor John Macleod at the University of Toronto of Toronto,
Canada, German physiologist Oskar Minkowski, physician Joseph von Mering, German medical
student, Paul Langerhans, and their dogs.
Insulin is a medicine
made up of peptide hormone,
produced by beta cells of the pancreas. It is a
naturally-occurring. It’s a hormone
made in the islet cells in the pancreas. Insulin is required by
the cells of the body in order for them to remove and use glucose from the
blood. From glucose the cells produce the energy that they need to carry out
their functions. Insulin
acts like a key that opens the door for the food (glucose) to leave your
bloodstream and get into your cells when your pancreas no longer makes any
insulin or the insulin you have naturally inside of your body doesn't work. Without
insulin to unlock the door for glucose, glucose can't get
into your cells and since the cells
can't get any food (glucose), they starve for energy while glucose builds
up in your blood, increasing the sugar level in the blood and becoming a danger
to the body. This condition is called “hyperglycemia”
and can be very dangerous. The symptoms
of hyperglycemia is having to urinate a lot, being extremely thirsty, exhaustion,
weakness, blurry or unclear vision, or an appetite of being hungry immediately
after a meal.
When blood glucose gets
too high for too long, the body will start to make “ketones”. Ketones are
very bad for the body. Ketones are
produced when the body burns fat for energy or fuel. They are also produced
when you lose weight or if there is not enough insulin to help your body use
sugar for energy. Without enough insulin, glucose builds up in the blood. Since
the body is unable to use glucose for energy, it breaks down fat instead. When
this occurs, ketones form in the blood and spill into the urine. These ketones
can make you very sick and can cause Diabetic Ketoacidosis or DKA. Diabetic ketoacidosis (DKA) is a life-threatening
condition causing the chemical imbalance metabolic acidosis.
These conditions can now be treated since two scientist and their dogs from
Toronto, Canada, had the focus and the drive to proceed with their experiments
until they developed a form of insulin that could be marketed to the health
care industry and assist in the treatment of diabetes. Banting and Best, the
two who strived and accomplished the discovery of insulin were so modest and
heroic that Banting, and the rest of their team patented their insulin extract
but gave away all their rights to the University of Toronto, which would later
use the income from insulin to fund new research. It was the medical firm Eli
Lilly who decided to start large-scale production of the extract and in 1923,
the firm was producing insulin and supplying the entire North American
continent.
The name “Insulin” came
from the German medical student that first researched and observed the need for
the extract of this extract from the hormone secreted by the pancreases beta
cells. As early as 1869, Paul Langerhans, found that within the pancreatic
tissue that produces digestive juices there were clusters of cells whose
function were eventually shown to be the insulin-producing beta cells. Paul Langerhans also made the first careful and detailed
description of the microscopic structure of the pancreas. He described nine
different types of cells including small, irregularly shaped, polygonal cells
without granules. These cells were given the name “ Islets of Langerhans” also
known as “Insulin”.
In
1889 in Germany, physiologist Oskar Minkowski and physician Joseph von Mering
decided to further research on how to solve the condition of diabetes that was
killing most of its victims by starvation. First they started by removing the
pancreas from a dog, and concluding that the animal got diabetes. Next, the
duct through which the pancreatic juices flow to the intestine was surgically
tied off so the juices couldn't reach the intestine. The dog developed minor
digestive problems but no diabetes. The two realized that the pancreas has two
functions. One function of the pancreas is to produce digestive juices and the
other is to produce a substance that regulates the sugar glucose. They figured
out that internal secretion was the key. They decided to isolate the substance
to solve the diabetic condition.
It
wasn’t until October 1920 in Toronto, Canada, that Dr. Frederick Banting, a
surgeon with a bachelor's degree in medicine, had the idea that the pancreatic
digestive juices could be harmful to the secretion of the pancreas produced by
the islets of Langerhans. He decided that he would be able to produce a syrum
by building on the ideas of physiologist Oskar Minkowski and physician Joseph
von Mering. Following their steps in
great detail, Banting decided that if he tried to stop the flow of nourishment
to the pancreas, this would cause the pancreas to degenerate, making it shrink
and lose its ability to secrete the digestive juices. The cells thought to
produce an antidiabetic secretion could then be extracted from the pancreas
without being harmed. Banting took his idea to Professor John Macleod at the
University of Toronto, who was a leading figure in the study of diabetes in
Canada. Professor Macleod decided to give Banting a laboratory with a minimum
of equipment, ten dogs and an assistant, a medical student by the name of
Charles Best. The experiment began in the summer of 1921.
Working
on a dog they removed the pancreas, sliced it up, and froze the pieces in a
mixture of water and salts. When the pieces were half frozen, they were ground
up and filtered. The extract was injected into the diabetic dog. Its blood
glucose level dropped, and it seemed healthier and stronger. By giving the
diabetic dog a few injections a day, Banting and Best could keep it healthy and
free of symptoms of diabetes. They started using pancreases from cattle and managed
to produce enough extract to keep several diabetic dogs alive. Using whole
fresh pancreases from adult animals worked just as well.
The
first diabetic person to be healed with insulin was a 14-year-old boy, Leonard
Thompson in January 1922 in Toronto, Canada. Thompson was near death, at the
time when the insulin was to be applied. After receiving his medicine dosage, the
teen rapidly regained his strength and appetite. The team now expanded their
testing to other volunteer diabetics, who reacted just as positively as Leonard
to the insulin extract.
Building
on the ideas of another and focusing to bring the solution to a problem in a
physical form helped many people on the planet to live longer, more enriched
lives. This is just a brief history of the discovery of Insulin. There are many
sources to find out more about this Nobel Peace Prize winning medical achievement.
Check out sites like Nobel Peace prize org @ http://www.nobelprize.org/educational/medicine/insulin/discovery-insulin.html
. For tips to assist with diabetes and diets, check out sites like the American
Diabetes Association @ http://www.diabetes.org/
.
