Before the discovery of insulin as a treatment for diabetes, many people with Type 1 diabetes succumbed to their illness; being diagnosed with diabetes was a death sentence. The discovery of insulin meant that diabetics could lead relatively normal lives, needing only to stop and inject themselves with insulin one or more times a day. This discovery was such a breakthrough that Banting was knighted for his work in 1934.

Insulin is a hormone which is produced by the pancreas. It was isolated by Banting and colleagues in 1922; since then, much has been discovered about insulin and its effects on the body. In essence, insulin regulates the amount of glucose in the blood. Glucose is a type of sugar which is the “fuel” for our cells. Without insulin, our cells cannot function and soon die.

Insulin also serves other important duties in the body, such as:

stimulating muscle and liver cells to store extra, unused glucose as glycogen for later use

stimulating fat cells to make fats from fatty acids

stimulating kidney and liver cells to make protein from fatty acids

Without insulin, our bodies simply cannot survive.

So what is diabetes? There are two types of diabetes:

Type 1 (insulin dependent diabetes mellitus)

Type 2 (non-insulin dependent diabetes mellitus)

Although both types are diabetes, they have two different mechanisms of action (or inaction, as the case may be). In Type 1 diabetes, the pancreas does not produce insulin. People with this form of diabetes must take insulin in the form of injections for the rest of their lives. In Type 2 diabetes, the pancreas makes insulin but the body is unable to properly use this insulin. People with this type of diabetes can sometimes control their disease through diet, but often rely on oral medications. Sometimes they require insulin as their disease progresses, especially if their diabetes is poorly controlled.

There are many people with diabetes who lead normal lives. Celebrities Halle Berry (Monster’s Ball), Randy Jackson (American Idol), and Nick Jonas (The Jonas Brothers) all live and work with diabetes.

Related Links:

Video: Type 1 Treatment from illumistream

The Discovery of Insulin-The history of diabetes treatment from About.com

Frederick Banting-Biography from Nobelprize.org