Hannah

Doctor Frederick Banting: Discoverer of Life Saving Insulin

Until the year 1923 people who suffered from diabetes mellitus were incurable. There life could be shortened to weeks and no amount of oat cures, potato cures, or dietary constrictions could save them. There is only one known “cure” for diabetes and at the time it was yet to be found. In 1920 Doctor Frederick Banting a former University of Toronto graduate, and soldier, opens a clinic in London, Ontario. His life, at the time was falling apart, business was slow, he had very little money resulting in having to be supported by his girlfriends income, whom was considering leaving him, and money from his parents this resulted in plenty of embarrassment. However one cold fall night Banting had been lucky enough to be reading an article called “The Relation of the Islets of Langerhans to Diabetes with Special References to Cases of Pancreatic Lithiasis” by Dr. Moses Barron. The article talked about how the pancreas and islets controls the blood sugar levels in a human. After reading the article Banting had written “Diabetus. Ligate pancreatic ducts of dog. Keep dogs alive till acini degenerate leaving Islets. Try to isolate the internal secreation of these to relieve glycosuria” This vague idea sparked the discovery of what we now know as insulin.

People with diabetes can’t absorb glucose into the cells of the body. So the sugar from all foods remain in the bloodstream. The overpowering amount of sugar in the bloodstream spreads to the urine creating a sweet taste, thats why it is known as “honey-sweet diabetes”. There is so much sugar in the urine the kidneys try to dilute it resulting in frequent urination. The body then craves more liquid to replace what has been lost...

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...be suffering and dying? All we know is that without him are world would not be the same. Therefore Frederick Banting contributed a huge amount to the medical world and changed history making our world better.

The picture that I drew shows different methods of taking insulin such as the pump and the needle. In the middle I chose to use the “Canadian Diabetes Association” symbol to portray the idea that I am talking about the discovery of insulin. I also included Doctor Frederick Bantings signature to represent him as well as the University of Toronto crest, because Banting was a student there and it was where insulin was discovered. Another thing included in the picture was important years, such as 1923 the year Bantings won the Nobel Prize for his work in discovering insulin. As well as the year he was born and died located on the bottom of the 2 in the year 1923.