Show WHAT IS INSULIN Is a disease characterized dazed by the pre presence senca of sugar in ID the urine it lias has been known kanovi n for thousands of years formerly regarded as a disease of the kidneys it was wai found about forty years ago to be due to degeneration of the pancreas following some infection such us as influenza or typhoid fever it may bo be caused by obesity in 1800 langerhans found that only a apart part of the gland was destroyed in diabetics and that the pancreas was really two glands in one one glnn gland secretes the pancreatic juice which goes into the small intestine and aids digestion the other gland manufactures a substance which Is taken up ly by the blood and which Is necessary for sugar digestion ike I 1 lie parts of tile the gland which I 1 secrete tills this second substance are called the islands of langerhans if these islands degenerate then the sugar in the food instead of being used by the body Is discharged through the kidneys so that no matter how much the patient eats he is unable to get enough nourishment because much of big hla food Is thrown away diabetic patients have enormous appetites pet ites but the more they eat the more poorly nourished they are to make matters worse orse the changed chemistry of the body produces an add acid condition of the blood called nel dosis which e eventually ventu ally poisons the patient ue ile becomes unconscious what Is known as diabetic coma and usually never awakens in 1921 dr P F G banting a young canadian Cann illan physician determined de ed to find this mysterious substance the absence of which thich caused diabetes after many experiments lie he suc in making a serum scrum containing tile secretion of the islands of longer langer bans which he called insulin it Is now nov made from the pancreas of the hog which contains more insulin than that of any other animal before the discovery of insulin the only thing thine the doctor could do for diabetics was to give them a starch and sugar tree free diet since doctor bastings Ban tings discovery it Is possible to restore the diabetic patient to practically normal condition the doctor weighs the patients food estimates estl mates the amount of sugar eaten and the amount of sugar excreted then lie he gives the patient enough insulin to digest the sugar taken into the body this enables the body to absorb it insulin is not a cure tor for diabetes it replaces tho the missing substance in the blood of the diabetic patient and so enables him to lead a normal life it Is not a substitute for other methods of treatment careful diet and ways 0 of living are still necessary it Is possible that its continued use may restore the pancreas to normal at least in mild cases but this we do not know ns as yet ret |