A Short History of Diabetes and The Discovery of Insulin

A STEMinar presentation by Iuliana Popescu at UK

May’s STEMinar explores the most important stages of the discovery of diabetes, ultimately leading to the development of the modern science of Diabetology. The journey begins in Egypt, where the ancient papyri describing the disease were discovered. The period of clinical description continued with the old Indian and Chinese medical texts, and later with the work of Greek and Roman physicians. The first diagnostic tests appeared in the medieval period and, at the beginning of the 19th Century, the first empirical treatments were attempted. By the end of the 19th Century, progress in medicine and physiology has established the foundations of scientific understanding of diabetes. This opened an era for medical breakthroughs and the Insulin revolution in the early 1920’s, with additional findings and debates continuing onto today.