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The Main Events in the History of Diabetes Mellitus

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Principles of Diabetes Mellitus

Abstract

A medical condition producing excessive thirst, continuous urination, and severe weight loss has interested medical authors for over three millennia. Unfortunately, until the early part of twentieth century the prognosis for a patient with this condition was no better than it was over 3000 years ago. Since the ancient physicians described almost exclusively cases of what is today known as type 1 diabetes mellitus, the outcome was invariably fatal.

Although the term “diabetes mellitus” was not firmly established until the nineteenth century, we will refer to this disease using its modern name throughout this chapter, even for the earlier periods.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Division of Endocrinology and Metabolism, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Beth Israel Medical Center, New York, NY, USA

    Jacek Zajac & Leonid Poretsky M.D.

  2. Division of Endocrinology and Metabolism, Beth Israel Medical Center, New York, NY, USA

    Anil Shrestha M.D. & Parini Patel M.D.

Authors
  1. Jacek Zajac
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  2. Anil Shrestha M.D.
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  3. Parini Patel M.D.
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  4. Leonid Poretsky M.D.
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Correspondence to Jacek Zajac .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Div. Endocrinology & Metabolism, Beth Israel Medical Center, East 17th Street 317, New York, 10003, U.S.A.

    Leonid Poretsky

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Zajac, J., Shrestha, A., Patel, P., Poretsky, L. (2010). The Main Events in the History of Diabetes Mellitus. In: Poretsky, L. (eds) Principles of Diabetes Mellitus. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-0-387-09841-8_1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-0-387-09841-8_1

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