WEBVTT

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Diabetes mellitus has been a scourge
of the developed world

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with an estimated 400,000,000 people
worldwide suffering from this disease,

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and 50% more predicted
within twenty years.

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Its early symptoms,

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which include increased thirst
and large volumes of urine,

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were recognized as far back
as 1500 BCE in Egypt.

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While the term diabetes,
meaning "to pass through,"

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was first used in 250 BCE

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by the Greek physician
Apollonius of Memphis,

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Type 1 and Type 2 diabetes,

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associated respectively
with youth and obesity,

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were identified as separate conditions

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by Indian physicians
somewhere in the 5th century CE.

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But despite the disease being known,

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a diagnosis of diabetes in a human patient

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would remain tantamount
to a death sentence

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until the early 20th century,
its causes unknown.

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What changed this dire situation

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was the help of humanity's
longtime animal partner:

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Canis lupus familiaris,

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domesticated from Grey wolves
thousands of years ago.

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In 1890, the German scientists
Von Mering and Minkowski

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demonstrated that removing
a dog's pancreas

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caused it to develop
all the signs of diabetes,

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thus establishing the organ's
central role in the disease.

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But the exact mechanism
by which this occurred

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remained a mystery until 1920,

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when a young Canadian surgeon
named Frederick Banting

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and his student, Charles Best,

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advanced the findings
of their German colleagues.

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Working under Professor Macleod
at the University of Toronto,

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they confirmed that the pancreas was
responsible for regulating blood glucose,

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successfully treating diabetic dogs
by injecting them with an extract

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they had prepared from pancreas tissue.

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By 1922, the researchers working
with biochemist James Collip

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were able to develop a similar extract
from beef pancreas

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to first treat a 14-year-old diabetic boy,

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followed by six additional patients.

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The manufacturing process
for this extract, now known as insulin,

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was eventually turned over
to a pharmaceutical company

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that makes different types
of injectable insulin to this day.

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Banting and Macleod received

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the Nobel Prize for Medicine
in 1923 for their discovery.

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But Banting chose to share
his portion with Charles Best,

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for his help in the initial
studies involving dogs.

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But while medical experimentation
on animals remains controversial,

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in this case at least,

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it was not just a matter
of exploiting dogs for human needs.

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Dogs develop diabetes at the rate
of two cases per 1,000 dogs,

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almost the same
as that of humans under 20.

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Most canine cases are of Type 1 diabetes,

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similar to the type
that young children develop

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following immune system
destruction of the pancreas,

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and genetic studies have shown

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that the dog disease has many
similar hallmarks of the human disease.

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This has allowed veterinarians
to turn the tables,

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successfully using insulin
to treat diabetes

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in man's best friend for over 60 years.

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Many dog owners commit
to managing their dogs' diabetes

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with insulin injected twice daily,
regimented feedings,

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and periodic blood measurements

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using the same home-testing
glucose monitors used by human patients.

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And if the purified pig insulin
commonly used for dogs

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fails to work for a particular dog,

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the vet may even turn
to a formulation of human insulin,

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bringing the process full circle.

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After all that dogs have done
for us throughout the ages,

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including their role
in a medical discovery

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that has saved countless human lives,

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using that same knowledge
to help them is the least we could do.