Abstract
The discovery of insulin represents an authentic breakthrough, characterized, at the same time, by contrasts, controversies and disputes among scholars, as well as by great disappointments, failures and hopes. It is the story of famous, almost famous and little known people, of serendipities, discoveries and re-discoveries. The discovery of insulin has been a milestone and has truly revolutionized both the therapy and the prognosis of the diabetes, one of the diseases most studied in the history of medicine, whose first mentions trace back to a collection of ancient Egyptian, Indian and Chinese textbooks. As stated by Colwell, the introduction of insulin has heralded the end of the so-called “pre-insulin era” or “frustration era”, paving the way for a new era and clinical advancements. The current review offers a broad, comprehensive overview of main steps culminating into insulin discovery, including recent advancements such as personalized and individualized insulin therapy.
Highlights
The discovery of insulin represents an authentic breakthrough, characterized, at the same time, by contrasts, controversies and disputes among scholars, as well as by great disappointments, failures and hopes
Insulin is a peptide hormone, which is produced and released by beta cells of the pancreatic islets, that finely tunes the metabolism of carbohydrates, fats and protein inducing the uptake of glucose from the blood into fat, liver and skeletal muscle cells
For compensating this, Banting and MacLeod decided to divide their prize with Collip, whilst Noble and Paulescu were officially excluded from the discovery of insulin [34]
Summary
The discovery of insulin represents an authentic breakthrough, characterized, at the same time, by contrasts, controversies and disputes among scholars, as well as by great disappointments, failures and hopes. As stated by Colwell, the introduction of insulin has heralded the end of the so-called “pre-insulin era” or “frustration era,” paving the way for a new era and clinical advancements [8] This era is characterized by the efforts of controlling diabetes by means of bizarre pharmacological treatment such as the use of opium or dietary interventions, based on the conviction that diabetic patients should eat extra-portion for compensating their endocrinological and metabolic impairment. The French pharmacist and hygienist Apollinaire Bouchardat (1809–1886), considered the modern father of diabetology, observed an improvement of diabetic patients during the German siege of Paris in 1870 His school, which included the physician Bernhard Naunyin (1839–1925), became famous for advising sugar-free diets, known as the “Bouchardat’s treatment” [8]. Insulin would have canceled away all these bizarre treatments, including the oral “miraculous” pills termed metabolin and irrebolin, proposed by Karl Loening in 1922 and by Ernst Vahlen in 1924 [13]
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