History of nearly 100 of insulin - the source of life for people with diabetes

The cost of insulin has increased by 300% since it was discovered.

Diabetes is a condition in which the body cannot regulate and control blood sugar. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), the world has more than 400 million people with diabetes. This disease can cause a lot of horrors from blindness, kidney failure, amputation to heart attack and stroke.

To prevent complications, many patients, especially type 1 diabetes, must inject insulin as a mandatory daily treatment.

But few know that insulin has experienced an amazing history of development for nearly 100 years. Since the first day of discovery, the use of this hormone in treating diabetes has undergone many changes. Let's take a look back at those important milestones:

1. Insulin is an indispensable hormone in the human body.It is produced by the pancreas, which helps regulate blood sugar levels.For people with type 1 diabetes, their pancreas is unable to produce insulin.This makes the blood sugar rise unexpectedly.Without insulin in the body, patients with type 1 diabetes will experience many dangerous complications, in the short term are hypoglycemia, arrhythmias, numbness, long-term damage is eye damage, kidney failure and destruction of the nervous system. sutra.

2. Back in the 1920s, scientists first discovered pancreas as a very important part for people with diabetes.Researching the pancreas is considered a top task.Scientists and diabetic patients all look at the pancreas and see that it is where their hopes are lit.The picture below is an inflamed pancreas of a monkey.On the left, you can see its junction is the spleen.On the right is the duodenum.

3. The most famous experiment with pancreas and diabetes was done by Dr. Frederick Banting of Canada and Charles Best medical student.They choose a dog and cut off its pancreas.Later, Dr. Banting and Charles Best observed the phenomenon of dogs with diabetes.But when they proceed to inject insulin back into its blood, the dog returns to normal.

4. Soon after, Dr. Banting and Charles Best tested insulin injections on diabetic people.In 1922, the first patient was treated with this method.A year later, Dr. Banting and Charles Best were awarded the Nobel Prize for their discovery of insulin.He sold his patent to the University of Toronto at a symbolic price of only a few dollars.

5. Since then, a long era began with people with diabetes who could receive treatment from insulin extracted from the animal's pancreas.It was not until 1970 that scientists discovered they could use recombinant DNA to produce human insulin by artificial methods.This helps diabetics have a better chance of being treated with 'real' insulin.

6. Human insulin, also known as regular insulin , is still used today.However, in the 1990s, a third wave of new insulin emerges.Similar types of insulin (analog insulin), also known as quick-acting insulin, are improved from regular insulin.It goes one step further to perfectly simulate the body's natural insulin.

7. However, a review by the World Health Organization (WHO) in 2011 showed that similar insulin did not have a superior effect over conventional insulin.Even so, the cost of insulin is almost double.

8. Since the first similar insulin approved (Humalog), the list price for each of its vials has increased steadily over time.Similar to the competitive brand (Novolog), its price has increased by 300% after only a decade.

9. People with diabetes depend on today's insulin that can inject it with a regular syringe, a dedicated pen or an insulin pump as shown below.

10. In the past few years, researchers have been trying to create inhaled insulin through the air.Most of the ideas failed, but there is still one such kind on the market: Afrezza.

11. Studies on new insulin and better ways to deliver it to the body still attract many scientists. Last September, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved a device called 'artificial pancreas'.It has a screen that displays blood sugar levels and can pump insulin into the body.In addition, today there are a total of about 135 different drugs developed for diabetics.

12. However, the current price of insulin continues to cause concern for people who are living with diabetes.In the United States, Senator Bernie Sanders is one of those who are very interested in this issue.

13. The main reason for increasing insulin prices is that it cannot be produced under inorganic chains.Unlike chemical drugs such as statins to lower cholesterol, ibuprofen for pain relief, insulin is produced only from living cells, under biological processes.However, in the future, some new approved drugs like Basaglar can be marketed at a more competitive price.