Chapter 1 Landmarks in the History of Diabetes Mellitus

Mankind has known diabetes from times immemorial. The first documented evidence of the clinical features of diabetes comes from Egypt in the 19th century. Thereafter our understanding of the nature of this condition has increased from the ancient world to the dark ages, and progressively evolved through the advent of the modern era. The 20th century has seen an explosion in the prevalence of diabetes mellitus, which has occurred in parallel with numerous exciting discoveries about the nature of diabetes, its etiopathogenesis and the effect of disease duration on chronic complications. The paradigms for diabetes management have also changed significantly over the decades. Moreover, the global effect of diabetes has become increasingly prominent since the beginning of the 20th century. In this chapter, we will look at some of the milestones in the history of diabetes and acquaint ourselves with some of the outstanding men and women who have significantly contributed to this branch of medicine.