Thursday, October 04, 2012

diabetes: Past 200 years


The Past 200 Years in Diabetes

Kenneth S. Polonsky, M.D.
N Engl J Med 2012; 367:1332-1340October 4, 2012DOI: 10.1056/NEJMra1110560
 Comments open through December 31, 2012
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Diabetes, 1812-2012.
Diabetes, 1812-2012.
Diabetes was first recognized around 1500 B.C.E. by the ancient Egyptians, who considered it a rare condition in which a person urinated excessively and lost weight. The term diabetes mellitus, reflecting the fact that the urine of those affected had a sweet taste, was first used by the Greek physician Aretaeus, who lived from about 80 to 138 C.E. It was not until 1776, however, that Matthew Dobson actually measured the concentration of glucose in the urine of such patients and found it to be increased.1
Diabetes was a recognized clinical entity when the New England Journal of Medicine and Surgery was founded in 1812. Its prevalence at the time was not documented, and essentially nothing was known about the mechanisms responsible for the disease./.../

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