Did
you miss me?
Okay, so I've only been gone four days. But I needed the time off after writing in this blog for 40 consecutive days. And to think there was once a time where I wrote one of these a day for a whole year. I think it's safe to say that those days are over.
Okay, so I've only been gone four days. But I needed the time off after writing in this blog for 40 consecutive days. And to think there was once a time where I wrote one of these a day for a whole year. I think it's safe to say that those days are over.
This
is the second of eight Wayback Wednesday entries, and I have to say
that the subject that I have chosen to talk about today is a real life saver
for millions of people all over the world.
And that will be your one and only clue as we kick off the news and
events of January 11 throughout history.
Here we go!
1569 - The first record of a lottery takes place
in England
1693 - Sicily and Malta are devastated by a
powerful earthquake
1759 - The first life insurance company is incorporated
in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
1787 - The two moons of Uranus - Oberon and
Titania - are discovered by William Herschel
1843 - Francis Scott Key - composer of "The
Star-Spangled Banner" dies at the age of 63
1861 - Alabama secedes from the United States
1908 - The Grand Canyon National Monument is
created
1912 - Immigrant textile works in Lawrence,
Massachusetts go on strike to protest the wage reduction as a result of the
mandate to shorten work weeks
1917 - As a direct result of sabotage, the
Kingsland munitions factory explodes
1927 - The creation of the Academy of Motion
Pictures and Sciences is announced by Louis B. Meyer
1930 - Actor Rod Taylor (d. 2015) is born in
Lidcombe, Australia
1935 - Amelia Earhart becomes the first person to
fly from Hawaii to California solo
1942 - Saxophonist Clarence Clemmons (d. 2011) is
born in Norfolk County, Virginia
1943 - Carlo Tresca is assassinated in New York
City
1957 - The African Convention is founded in
Dakar, Senegal
1973 - Major League Baseball owners vote to adopt
the designated hitter position for American League baseball games
1996 - STS-72 launches from the Kennedy Space
Center, marking the beginning of the 74th Space Shuttle Mission
2008 - Mountaineer Edmund Hillary dies at the age
of 88
2014 - Former Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon
dies at the age of 85
2016 - Actor David Margulies passes away at the
age of 78
And
blowing out birthday candles on their cakes today are the following famous
faces; Alfonso Arau, Jean Chretien, Bud Acton, Naomi Judd, Tony Kaye, Daryl Braithwaite, Charlie Huhn, Diana Gabaldon, Lee Ritenour, Vicki Peterson, Brett Bodine, Rob Ramage, Tom Dumont, Mary J. Blige, Christian Jacobs, Amanda Peet, Rockmond Dunbar, Darren Lynn Bousman, and Cody
Simpson.
All
right, so what date are we going back in time to this week? Last week, we only went back six years, so
I'm hoping it's a more significant time jump.
Ah,
now we're talking. January 11, 1922. That's almost a whole century
ago!
As
it so happens, this date was one that was very important in the world of
medicine. People didn't know it at the
time, but this date marked the first time that a particular treatment was used
to battle a disease that millions of people suffer from. And while in the 95 years since this
treatment was first used there has not yet been a cure for this ailment, since
the discovery of this treatment, people have lived much longer lives than those
who lived prior to 1922.
Diabetes
is a disease that many people have, and if left untreated, it can be
fatal. Fortunately, people have found a
variety of ways to control their diabetes.
In some cases, depending on the type of diabetes you have, it can be
maintained one of two ways. Sometimes
it can be as simple as popping a sugary candy in your mouth to keep from
passing out due to low sugar levels.
But
there's also those who require a shot of insulin to try and control their
diabetes as well. And would you believe
that the idea of using insulin to treat diabetes was a fairly NEW concept?
The
first time it was ever used was on this date 95 years ago at the Toronto
General Hospital (side note: how cool is it that this treatment originated just
a four hour drive away from where I live!)
The
patient was a fourteen-year-old boy named Leonard Thompson. And while the first dose was administered on
January 11, 1922, it took some considerable time before the treatment was even
approved.
After several years of medical research that originated in Europe by several
different scientists, it wasn't until 1920 that Canadian scientist Frederick
Banting and professor J.J.R Macleod actually came up with the method. Banting had hypothesized that after reading
research recorded by Nicolae Paulescu, he could use the natural internal
secretion of the pancreas to extract the insulin which could then be used to
stablilize sugar levels within a diabetic person's blood. After approaching Macleod with his theory,
Macleod allowed him use of his lab, as well as the help of lab student Charles
Best. Banting's method was to tie a
ligature around the pancreatic duct, and over the course of weeks, the
digestive cells of the pancreas would die and left behind were islets which
were then extracted to produce insulin.
Beginning on July 27, 1921, Banting used the extract to test on dogs,
and through the tests done by both Banting and Best, they successfully managed
to keep one of the dogs alive the rest of the summer.
When they presented their findings to Macleod, he was intrigued, but felt that they needed better equipment to ensure success. Another roadblock came up when it was discovered that the process in which to extract the islets would take up to six weeks, which was simply too long. The idea was suggested to use fetal calf pancreas - which worked, and made the extraction process much quicker. By the end of 1921, the team felt that enough research had been done to perform a clinical test.
And as we know, Leonard Thompson was the first patient.
When they presented their findings to Macleod, he was intrigued, but felt that they needed better equipment to ensure success. Another roadblock came up when it was discovered that the process in which to extract the islets would take up to six weeks, which was simply too long. The idea was suggested to use fetal calf pancreas - which worked, and made the extraction process much quicker. By the end of 1921, the team felt that enough research had been done to perform a clinical test.
And as we know, Leonard Thompson was the first patient.
Unfortunately,
the dose that Thompson was initially given was impure, and Thompson sustained a
very severe allergic reaction to the substance. It would take another twelve days and more testing to be done
before Banting would try administering another improved dose. And not only was the second dose much more
effective than the first, but it also eliminated the glycosuria sign of
diabetes without any side effects. As
for Thompson, he would live for at least thirteen more years after taking
insulin every day.
No comments:
Post a Comment