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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.
Krystian Aparta
The English transcript was updated on 2/13/2015.