90 Years Ago Today

On this date, in 1922, a 14-year-old boy named Leonard Thompson (at the time, a two-year duration Type 1 diabetic) received the first successful injection of insulin.  In 1922, the diagnosis of Type 1 diabetes was, essentially, a death sentence as it was treated by a starvation diet.

Twelve days previously, on January 11, Leonard Thompson had taken the first injection of insulin, but had a severe allergic reaction (probably due to an impurity in the solution).

Leonard, at the time, a 65-pound teenager close to death, improved after that second injection and lived on to the age of 27 to die of  pneumonia.

The story of insulin is here.

The first mention, today, of the anniversary is seen in the Wales Online article here.