History of Diabetes

Diabetes is considered as one of the most debilitating diseases and was discovered more than two thousand years ago. However, there is no definite history of type 2 diabetes or other types of diabetes up until the 20^th century has came. It was not until the year 1935 when type 2 diabetes was discovered. The first type of diabetes was sensitive to insulin and known as type 1 diabetes while the condition that is insensitive to insulin is type 2 diabetes. The breakthrough was made possible by seeing the relativity of the recent discovery of insulin back in 1921.

Presumably, this came about when physicians noticed that injecting insulin caused lesser effects on some patients with diabetes. In 1950s, the development of a new medication was considered as the beginning of treatments for type 2 diabetes. Before, there are no available history for this condition and for its treatment and so those who are suffering from type 2 diabetes simply make use of more insulin hoping that the body cells would be able to absorb enough of it. From then onwards, the history of the condition run alongside type 1 diabetes. Urine strips were then introduced in 1960s, which make it easier to detect the levels of insulin in the body.

These discoveries made it simpler to manage type 2 diabetes. In 1962, the use of syringe for one time use was then introduced in the market and this eliminated the need for using think early syringes that has to be boiled and sharpened regularly before use. The creation of portable glucose meters were introduced in 1969 by Ames Diagnostics. This method aims to determine if the patient who is unconscious is suffering from diabetes. Although this meter weighs three pounds, innovations were made to reduce its size until it became the size of a hand held calculator.

Part of the history of type 2 diabetes was the creation of insulin pumps, which are designed to mimic insulin production in the body. This was created later in the 70s and is usually carried by patients in a backpack type setup. Technology changed this as well and this device is now smaller and can be clipped onto a pocket or belt. More recently, oral medications were introduced and these medications have the same purpose as that of the insulin pumps. These creations made it easier for type 2 diabetes patients to manage and control their condition.