Abstract
Since its discovery, insulin has been employed as a therapeutic agent in a variety of miscellaneous disorders. Favorable results from its use have been reported, for example, in such apparently divergent conditions as cardiac decompensation,1scleroderma,2cancer,3toxemia of pregnancy,4certain types of uterine hemorrhages,5morphinism,6tuberculosis,7to make premature infants gain weight,8peptic ulcer,9neurosis,10hyperthyroidism,11rickets,12pellagra,13chronic ulcers and circulatory disturbances of the extremities,14and even to hasten the healing of experimental fractures.15But, next to its value in the treatment of diabetes, insulin appears to have its greatest practical usefulness in the treatment of nondiabetic malnutrition. American pediatricians were the first to use the drug for this purpose. In 1923, Pitfield16injected 1 unit of insulin a day in two patients with infantile inanition, with a resulting gain in weight.
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