by It is 100 years since the first person in England was given insulin, which changed the course of diabetes treatment in the country.
The breakthrough in medicine at Sheffield University School of Medicine occurred in 1923, for a patient called Sir Stuart Goodwin, who was a Sheffield steel industry and philanthropist.
At that time, a diagnosis of diabetes was essentially a “death sentence”, with a life expectancy of one to two years at most.
The only treatments for diabetes at the time were starvation diets, such as the Allen diet which restricted a patient’s intake to as few as 400 calories in 24 hours.
But Sir Stuart paid to be included in a clinical trial for insulin, and after six months he was back at work and unrecognizable to colleagues.
While receiving treatment, he showed goodwill to others and paid for the treatment of several other patients.
Professor Sheila Francis, from the University of Sheffield’s School of Medicine and Population Health, told the PA news agency: “Now we’re talking about complications and effects on the eyes and effects on the feet.
“But none of those things really happened because people didn’t live long enough.
“So really, it was a death sentence.
“It was basically a death sentence because it was managed using starvation diets up until that insulin was used, so people didn’t live very long at all.”
She added: “There is a strong thread of goodwill in the story, in that Goodwin was accepted into the clinical trial.
“That goodwill was shown to Goodwin and then he showed goodwill to the people of Sheffield by funding their treatment.
“And then he continued with major philanthropic donations within the city and within the UK.
Professor Francis said Sir Stuart, who was born in 1886, was probably diagnosed with type 1 diabetes when he was in his 30s, but because of the insulin treatment he continued until he was 83.
She explained that recent archival searches revealed that treatment most likely began in February.
The insulin used in the 1923 trial in Sheffield was made using pancreatic tissue from a cow.
A year earlier, a young boy was treated in Toronto, Canada, but the discovery was made in 1921.
The first person from the UK was treated in Edinburgh in August 1922.
According to Diabetes UK, today more than a million people in the UK are dependent on insulin.
Hannah Postles, 38, from Sheffield was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes aged 26.
She said: “I was diagnosed with type one diabetes in December 2011 and, since then, I’ve had to inject insulin up to five times a day to stay alive.
“Diabetes care has come a long way since those first clinical trials in Sheffield 100 years ago, and even in the 12 years since I was diagnosed.
“I used to have to prick my finger to test my blood glucose, but now I wear a sensor on my arm that automatically sends my readings to my phone.
“I will soon be moving to an insulin pump instead of giving myself insulin injections, and my pump and sensor will communicate with each other to help keep my blood glucose levels in a healthy range.
“It’s remarkable to think that while type one diabetes was a death sentence for patients before the discovery of insulin and the first clinical trials, we are at a point 100 years later when more and more patients are able to access on technology that basically gives them. artificial pancreas.
“These improvements make a real difference to people’s lives, reducing the burden of living with a condition that can be so difficult and all-consuming to manage.
“As someone who receives their diabetes care in Sheffield, I am extremely proud that the city and the university played a vital role in the first insulin clinical trials in Britain, and I am grateful to everyone involved in the research carried out since since then. “
However, Professor Francis said more needs to be done around the world to ensure equal access to life-saving treatment.
She explained: “I think we’re always trying to get equal access around the world to these different medicines, and pharmaceutical companies should be making arrangements to make insulin available around the world at a reasonable price, it is one of the most successful drugs. ever.”
A Diabetes UK spokesman said: “Before insulin was found, type 1 diabetes was a death sentence, people only lived for more than a year or two.
“The discovery of insulin was revolutionary and saved millions of lives around the world, making a fatal condition possible.
“In the years since these advances, we have learned a great deal about the role of the immune system in type 1 diabetes and the consequences the condition can have on people’s health and well-being.
“Diabetes UK is committed to funding research that will lead to new treatments and ultimately a cure for people with type 1 diabetes, where insulin is the only therapy for the condition of the past.”
