The First Use of Insulin was in 1922 and It Has an Amazing Story Behind It!

Imagine a hospital ward filled with young children fighting against a disease with no cure. Where there was nothing anyone could do except pray for a peaceful last breath, until a miracle finally happened. This is the story of the day insulin was first injected to treat children with diabetes, eventually changing the average life expectancy of diabetes diagnosed children from a mere one or two years to 68 years. Although insulin was first isolated by Dr. Frederick G. Banting, Charles H Best, and John MacLeod in 1921, it was not until 1922 that it was made stable enough to be administered. It was first administered to 14-year-old Leonard Thompson who was admitted to Toronto General Hospital with type 1 diabetes. During those days, the only treatment was a starvation diet. Even though he was kept at just a 450-calorie diet, Leonard's blood sugar levels were dangerously high and he was clinging on to his life. After the first insulin injection, his blood sugar level showed just a negligible drop, and he developed an allergic reaction to the treatment. The scientists realized that the insulin they had extracted was not stable and pure enough to be injected. So, they brought in a biochemist, James Collip, who worked tirelessly for the next 12 days to develop a pure insulin extract. On 23 January, 1922, the second clinical trial took place. This time Leonard was injected with the stabilized insulin developed by Collip. In just a time period of 24 hours, his blood sugar level reduced from 28.9 mmol/L to 6.7 mmol/L with no side-effects.