Why has insulin changed the way diabetes is treated?
Insulin is a hormone made in the pancreas, an organ located behind the stomach, Insulin play a major role in metabolisim--the way the body use digested food for energy Without enough insulin, excess glucose build up in the bloodstream, leading to diabetes, and other serious health disorders.
The discovery and development of insulin as a medical treatment for diabetes can be traced to 1916, whe Romaninan Professor, Nicolae Paulescu, developed an extract of the pancreas, and showed that it lowers blood sugar in diabetic dogs.
In 1921, Tronto, Dr Frederick Banting and medical student Charles Best performed experiment on the pancreas of the dog. When the pancrease was removed, the dog showed the symptom of diabetes. The pancreas was sliced, ground up, and injected a few times a day into the dog-and the dog regained its health. Later, an extract was made from the pancreas of cow, and purified for use on testing on humans. Research into the development of insulin has driven scientist to take significant step towards understanding human Biology, and allowing diabetic people lead longer, and moer normal lives. A number of Nobel Prizes have been awarded for research into the hormone.