Insulin.
We publish to-day an article from a lay Correspondent in which he
describes his experiences of insulin, the new remedy for diabetes.
His opinion of the preparation is entirely favourable, but he is under
no illusion as to the individual difficulty of its continued
administration. As he points out, administration must be controlled,
even though such control represents a considerable addition to the
cost of treatment. Reference to this difficulty was made in our
columns last week, and the suggestion was put forward that the Medical
Research Council might consider the possibility of instructing diabetic
patients or their friends in the methods of hypodermic medication, or,
alternatively, of granting them some financial assistance. It must not
be forgotten and the point is made by our Correspondent that failure
to secure insulin at regular intervals is equivalent to failure to
live. If the remedy is withheld the symptoms of diabetes quickly
return and become progressively more serious. The reason, of course,
is that every healthy individual possesses a supply of this substance
manufactured in his or her own body. Failure of that supply, as a
consequence of disease of the organs producing it, is the cause of
diabetes, and though, possibly, in course of time, the organs may
recover their lost power, at least to a partial extent, there is no
certainty that this restoration will take place. The diabetic patient
is therefore dependent on insulin in the most absolute sense ; he
cannot maintain himself without it even for comparatively short
periods of time. The hope has recently been expressed that a
preparation, of the drug suitable for administration by mouth may be
obtained. This would considerably improve matters^ It would not,
however, entirely resolve the difficulty, for estimations of the
amount of sugar in the blood would still, from time to time, be
necessary. These estimations can be carried out only by specially
trained physicians. The situation, therefore, demands very careful
handling. Nothing is less to be desired than the indiscriminate use of
this potent drug by ignorant people.