First insulin injection given 90 years ago today

By | 11 January, 2012
Insulin (probably), yesterday

Insulin (probably), yesterday

This dog was interested to read that the first ever insulin injection was given 90 years ago today on 11 January 1922. Made from extract of boiled cow and ultimately causing an allergic reaction in the human guinea pig, it was a good start, but it’s pleasing to see they’ve refined things a bit over the years.

They say insulin revolutionised diabetes treatment, but that feels like a bit of an understatement.

Today seems like a good day to celebrate having merely a chronic condition, rather than an inevitably terminal one.

9 thoughts on “First insulin injection given 90 years ago today

  1. Tim

    I mash up my own beef pancreases every day to make my own insulin. There’s nothing like home-made!

    Reply
    1. Mike

      I just hold a quivering bovine pancreas above my head and squeeze it into my upturned gaping maw. Sometimes you have to jump up asnd down on it a bit first to loosen the juices… Do you mean to tell me there’s another way?

      Reply
    1. Alison

      Very true, although like nasty tasting, randomly coloured spirits retreived from the back of the drinks cabinet at the end of a long evening when there’s nothing else left to drink, any insulin is better than none at all!

      Welcome to ShootUp Jane

      Reply
  2. katherine cromwell

    I’ve always liked cows. They are such a giving animal. Thank God we have them.

    Reply
  3. Annette A

    Bulls are scary though. And cows can be too. They do occasionally gain a tendency to walk towards you at a speed that cows shouldnt be able to muster, blocking the route towards the nearest exit from the field.

    Reply

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