Eighty years of insulin therapy: 1922-2002
Levinson, P.D.
Medicine and Health Rhode Island 86(4): 101-106
2003
ISSN/ISBN: 1086-5462 PMID: 12751363 Document Number: 8838
The discovery of insulin in the early 1920s was a major milestone in the history of medicine. Insulin revolutionized the treatment of diabetes mellitus, a disease that at the time was often characterized by a relentless downhill course and fatal outcome. Today, various types of insulin are used to treat the estimated 500,000 or more persons with type 1 diabetes mellitus in the United States. About 30% of the 10 million people diagnosed with type 2 diabetes use insulin, and this number will increase if the country's epidemic of obesity and type 2 diabetes is not reversed. Since 1922, advances in insulin therapy have contributed to increased longevity and improved quality of life for people with diabetes. This article will address some of the historical issues surrounding the discovery of insulin and its early modifications, review the treatment philosophies that are now used to guide insulin therapy, and discuss the developing clinical roles of recently-developed insulin analogs.
Document emailed within 1 workday
