Diabetes is a chronic disease where the patient suffers a high percentage of sugar in the blood. The main symptoms of the diabetes are recurrent urination and increasing thirst and hunger.
Diabetes can be classified to 3 main types according to its causes and some other types which are not so common.
*Type 1 diabetes, appears in some patients that their pancreas can not produce sufficient quantity of the hormone insulin.
*Type 2 diabetes appears for patients because their cells can not respond to the insulin.
*Gestational diabetes, this type is connected with pregnant women that might suffer from high blood sugar during the pregnancy, and might disappear after she give birth to her child or it might convert to type 2 diabetes.
*There also the congenital diabetes which is caused by genetic failures.
*Steroid diabetes which is caused by major doses of glucocorticoids.
*Maturity onset diabetes of the young which is more related to type 1 diabetes, but it can be classified to several types.
The first notice of the diabetes was by an Egyptian physician, it was mentioned in the papyrus more than 3500 years ago. He noticed the symptom concerning the urine.
In the 2nd century B.C. Arateus the Greek physician noticed the sugar in the urine of the patients and called it diabetes.
At the end of the 18th century John Rollo the Scottish physician reached the first treatment for diabetes by putting his patients in a diet.
Oskar Minkowski (1858-1931) and Joseph von Mering (1849-1908) the German scientists discovered the relation between pancreas and diabetes.
In the year 1901, Eugene Lindsay Opie (1873-1971) the American physician discovered the relation between the islets of Langerhans and diabetes, the islets of Langerhans were discovered by Paul Langerhans (1847-1888) in the year 1869 but was not able to identify their function.
In the year 1921, Sir Frederick Banting (1891-1941) a Canadian scientist and doctor was able to reach that the insulin can be used as a treatment for diabetes.
Sir Harold Himsworth (1905-1993) a British scientist was able to classify the diabetes to 2 types in the year 1936.
Hans Christian Hagedorn (1888-1971) a Canadian medications manufacturer, reached for the discovery that protamine prolong the period that the insulin can be active.
In the year 1955, Oral drugs are introduced to help lower blood glucose levels.
Pancreas transplants was performed for the first time in the year 1966, as a treatment for type1 diabetes.
In the year 1944, the insulin syringe was produced. the insulin syringe is marked in units not in centimeters as the other syringes, they are characterised with short and finer needles for less pain.
In the year 1986, the insulin pen delivery system is produced.