Diabetes used to be a death sentence, but that changed in 1922 when a teenager’s miraculous recovery brought hope to millions. Leonard Thompson was a happy child who loved football and other sports. At the age of eleven, he was diagnosed with diabetes, a then incurable condition. In his early teens, he ended up in hospital, drifting in and out of consciousness. Around the same time, a young surgeon named Frederick Banting came up with an idea to solve the diabetes enigma. Reportedly waking up in the middle of the night, he scribbled down his hypothesis on a piece of paper. On January 11, 1922, Leonard received his first insulin injection. While the first attempt didn’t work, later injections showed great improvement. More than 100 years after its discovery, insulin continues to be used to help some of the over 400 million people around the world with diabetes. Has someone you know benefitted from the research done by Banting? Read more about the groundbreaking discovery, and new treatments for diabetes: bit.ly/3O6RjCp We will delve into the critical subject of our health on 9 December at Nobel Week Dialogue: The Future of Health. Nobel Prize laureates and other experts will discuss medical advancements, disease prevention strategies, and innovative ways to enhance our lives at this live-streamed event. For more information: bit.ly/48bUGRT

"Insulin is not a cure for diabetes; it is a treatment." - Frederick Banting in his 1923 Nobel Prize lecture Read his full lecture here: bit.ly/3EqqL99 #WorldDiabetesDay

In May 1921, Fredrick Banting met his research assistant Charles Best in John Macleod's lab to begin their experiments with insulin. In January 1922, the first person received an insulin injection. By 1923, insulin was commercially available. Banting and Macleod received the 1923 medicine prize. #WorldDiabetesDay