Tag: Diabetes
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Part I: The impact of insulin on children with diabetes at Toronto Sick Kids in the 1920s
Sarah RiedlingerDean GiustiniBrenden HurshVancouver, British Columbia, Canada Introduction Diabetes mellitus (DM) is one of the most common chronic diseases in the world.1 In 2009 Canada alone had 2.35 million people with diabetes.2 Some 10% of sufferers have type 1 diabetes (T1DM), the most common form seen in children.3 Before 1922 most children with diabetes died,…
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The history of diabetes and insulin
Anabelle S. SlingerlandLeiden, Netherlands The discovery of insulin in 1921 by Banting, Best, Collip, and McLeod was heralded as the cure of diabetes (Figure 1). Press reports consigned earlier research to oblivion, suggesting that previous investigators had merely been groping in the dark. And yet this revolutionary discovery was preceded by legions of key figures…
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Mrs. M’s refusal
Ladan GolestanehBronx, New York, United States My role as a physician includes foregoing a prescriptive approach to some patients in favor of a supportive one. Yielding to a belief system that does not fit the structure of my many years of training feels like a personal failure. But sometimes I know I have to listen…
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To my friend with diabetes, on losing her foot
Anna KanderIowa City, IA, USA You walk sixty-seven years while childhooddiabetes, against your iron will, poisons your peripheralnerves with sugar, and the muscles of your feet, starvedof circulation, gradually dissolve. Your toes gnarl and curl backward at wildangles, as if aspiring to adorn gargoyles. (You’vealways had a dragon-and-knight heart.) Unruly tendonsdraw themselves into bows, aiming…
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When the doctor is the patient
Saleh AldasouqiEast Lansing, Michigan, United States I looked at my fingers, tender after a few glucose finger sticks to the middle and ring fingers of both hands, wondering which fingers to use the next day. No matter how user-friendly blood glucose testing devices have become, finger pricking remains a painful experience that patients with diabetes…
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The second chart
Irene MartinezChicago, Illinois, United States When I arrived at the clinic, I was already behind schedule. I got up at 5:30 to get ready, but with my daughter’s end of the year school trip made things more complicated. I was already rushing when I got to the clinic, feeling agitated, my stomach tightened, yet high-spirited…
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Defined spaces
Heather AlvaPalo Alto, California, United States “We’re already seeing signs of damage in the retina, but honestly, don’t worry about retinopathy; there have been so many recent medical advancements that I’m sure they’ll find a cure for diabetes in the next ten years.” You smile and nod. You don’t tell the optometrist that a doctor,…
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Healing through laughter
Farrah BuiNew Jersey, United States “If there is one thing to know about me, it’s that I refuse to ever eat honey again,” Ben explains to the audience. Immediately, looks of confusion and raised eyebrows appear among the faces in the crowd. “Don’t worry, it’s not just cause I have diabetes!” he tells them as…
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The song of diabetes
Annabelle SlingerlandWouter JukemaThe Netherlands We would like to thank Dr. Robin Seeley and Rosemary McNally. Preface Type 1 and type 2 diabetes are now so routinely diagnosed and treated that we rarely consider their origins. However, this distinction did not officially exist until it first appeared in the International Classification of Diseases (ICD) in 1965.…