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Where does this name come from?
The first written reference about diabetes comes from 35 centuries ago, approximately. It was Georg Ebers in 1862 who discovered in a grave at Tebes, Egypt, a small papyrus that described an illness defined by abundant elimination of urine and also recommended using plant substances as treatment.
The Indian doctors, on the other hand, described in books from 26 centuries ago the existence of an illness that provokes thirst, fast loss of weight, loss of strength, and they said that the urine eliminated by the ill people attracted ants due to its sweet taste.
Even though knowing the symptoms of the illness since long time ago, it was not until the Second Century when Areteo of Capadocia talks about "DIABETES", which comes from the Greek "DIABAINEIN", which means "GOING THROUGH". He called it this way due to the speed with which the diabetic has to eliminate what he/she has drunk.
In the 17th Century, Thomas Willis had the idea of tasting a diabetic’s urine, and he found that it was sweet. From this fact comes the word "MELLITUS", which meaning is "tasting like honey".
Until last Century it was not known that the elevation of the blood sugar level is the principal characteristic of diabetes. It was then when some people thought that the pancreas might produce something capable of regulating the sugar’s metabolism.
This substance, the INSULIN, was discovered in 1921 by two young scientists called Banting and Best. Thanks to it, thousands of diabetics have been able of bearing a nearly normal life.
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