11/14/2022
This year's World Diabetes Day marks 100 years since the discovery of Insulin by Fredrick Banting.
The day was first introduced in 1991 to raise awareness about diabetes: its causes, prevention, and the effects it has on human lives and healthcare systems worldwide.
World Diabetes Day is held on November 14th each year to commemorate the birthday of Sir Frederick Banting who co-discovered insulin in 1922.
He was awarded a Nobel prize in medicine for his revolutionary discovery of insulin.
Up to the discovery of insulin, Diabetes had been a terminal disease, which paved the road for many future inventions and developments.
Interestingly, one of Fredrick's family members, William, is considered the scientist behind the very popular "Low Carb Diet"
William managed to cut 44 pounds off his weight in a year when he was 70 and succeeded in maintaining his normal weight for ten years until the day he died.
Banting coined the term Banting Diet following his success with performing a low-carb diet.
A low-carb diet has been studied and implemented for decades:
The Atkins diet was popular during the 1970s, and the groundbreaking Ketogenic diet emerged during the late 1990s.
That was a game changer for many patients with Type 2 Diabetes.
In this day and age, thanks to advanced research and novel innovations, patients with Type 2 Diabetes can optimize the management of their disease and enjoy an improved quality of life.
Understanding that Diabetes is a progressive disease is key for combating and avoiding its complications like neuropathy, retinopathy, oral health, mental health, and cardiovascular morbidity.
In light of recent advances in treating Diabetes, one might find it hard to believe that less than 80 years ago, young physicians were required to taste patients' urine with the tip of their tongue to diagnose Diabetes!
The test strips in the sense used today were developed in the 1950s
It was first made on an industrial scale and offered commercially only during the 1970s.
The first glucometers were invented in the 1970s.
The prototypes were hard to use, inaccurate and necessitated large quantities of blood.
Through the late 1980s, 1990s, and early 2000s, self-monitoring of blood glucose (SMBG) technologies continued to improve. The blood removal step was needed, smaller amounts of blood were required for the test, electrochemical strips were used, and new enzymatic tests came into use.
Today, patients with Diabetes can enjoy completely painless Continuing Glucose Monitoring (CGM) systems in the comfort of their homes.
Obesity is on the rise globally in both adults and children, both male and female, both affluent and poor countries. World Health Organization has said that the issue of overweight and obesity has already grown to epidemic proportions, with over four million people dying as a result of being overweight or obese in 2017!
They are associated with several medical conditions and diseases like: strokes, nonalcoholic fatty liver, cancer, renal failure, and even certain types of cancer and cardiovascular disease.
The risks of untreated, unmanaged Diabetes can potentially result in the reduction of Qol (quality of life), paramount disabilities, and finally- death.
Prevention is key to avoiding many of these complications.
A healthy lifestyle and smart nutritional choices can be good ways to battle and protect ourselves from the negative outcome of obesity and Diabetes.
It's never too late to start.
