Tag: Diabetes
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Part I: The impact of insulin on children with diabetes at Toronto Sick Kids in the 1920s
Sarah Riedlinger Dean Giustini Brenden Hursh Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada Introduction The Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto, 1929. Photo credit: Toronto Public Library, Accession # tspa_0113248f 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…
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The history of diabetes and insulin
Anabelle S. Slingerland Leiden, Netherlands Figure 1. The Toronto Daily, the Nobel Laureates on track of diabetes cure 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…
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Mrs. M’s refusal
Ladan Golestaneh Bronx, 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…
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To my friend with diabetes, on losing her foot
Anna Kander Iowa City, IA, USA The author’s friend, almost sixty years ago–when she was first diagnosed with Type I Diabetes and told she probably wouldn’t survive to adulthood. You walk sixty-seven years while childhood diabetes, against your iron will, poisons your peripheral nerves with sugar, and the muscles of your feet, starved of circulation,…
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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 Martinez Chicago, Illinois, United States Caption: Photography by Keith Williamson 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,…
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Defined spaces
Heather Alva Palo Alto, California, United States Photography by Piccolo Namek “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…
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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 Slingerland Wouter Jukema The 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…