Tag Archives: Diabetes

Part I: The impact of insulin on children with diabetes at Toronto Sick Kids in the 1920s

May 15, 2018

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 […]

The history of diabetes and insulin

April 25, 2018

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 […]

Mrs. M’s refusal

February 2, 2018

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 […]

To my friend with diabetes, on losing her foot

September 29, 2017

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, […]

Healing through laughter

February 28, 2017

Farrah Bui New Jersey, United States   Laughing boy, c. 1625 Frans Hals Royal Picture Gallery Mauritshuis, The Hague “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 […]

When the doctor is the patient

January 27, 2017

Saleh Aldasouqi East 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 […]

The second chart

January 27, 2017

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, […]

Defined spaces

January 27, 2017

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 […]

Healing through laughter

January 27, 2017

Farrah Bui New Jersey, United States   Laughing boy, c. 1625 Frans Hals Royal Picture Gallery Mauritshuis, The Hague “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 […]

The song of diabetes

January 27, 2017

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 […]