World Diabetes Day
Today, still barely November 14, has been declared World Diabetes Day by the UN, to remind people that the world has suddenly found itself with an epidemic of Diabetes Mellitus.
The ancient Greeks knew of diabetes. The word 'diabetes' comes from an ancient Greek word that either meant 'pass through' or 'siphon.' Most medical websites say that diabetes came from the word for 'siphon,' but a free Greek dictionary said it came from the word for 'pass through.' So I checked the Oxford English Dictionary, which said it came from a Greek word meaning either 'pass through' or 'siphon.' (I tried to check with a Greek friend, but he never answered my e-mails.)
For the ancient Greeks, diabetes meant a condition with polyuria and polydipsia, which, in English, means frequent urination, to the point of dehydration, followed by intense, excruciating thirst.
The ancient Greeks said there were two completely different types of diabetes, diabetes mellitus, in which the urine is very sweet, and diabetes insipidus, in which the urine is insipid. Diabetes insipidus is so rare, it has almost disappeared from the modern medical lexicon (according to The New York Times, one woman, suffering from severe diabetes insipidus, went to different doctors for almost four decades before finding one who had ever heard of, and who knew how to treat, diabetes insipidus).
The Oxford English Dictionary says that diabetes mellitus was just a polysyllabic utterance doctors formerly used to sound erudite, and the old term 'diabetes mellitus' have been replaced in modern English by diabetes. Most medical websites only have a listing for diabetes, by which they mean diabetes mellitus.
While the poor woman mentioned above survived almost four decades of diabetes insipidus with no permanent damage, diabetes mellitus, if untreated, is invariably fatal. The definition has changed from sugar in the urine to sugar in the blood, but the results are the same as they were in the days of the ancient Greeks: the sugar damages every organ in the body. The results are amputation of damaged extremities, blindness, strokes, heart disease, and eventually kidney failure, if the diabetic doesn't die of something else first.
I will reluctantly repeat what is on most of the websites: have yourself checked at a competent clinic, and, if diagnosed with diabetes, do what they tell you to treat the disease.
(The reason for my reluctance is the danger of being checked by an incompetent clinic, and given bad advice, something I have witnessed several times.)
The ancient Greeks knew of diabetes. The word 'diabetes' comes from an ancient Greek word that either meant 'pass through' or 'siphon.' Most medical websites say that diabetes came from the word for 'siphon,' but a free Greek dictionary said it came from the word for 'pass through.' So I checked the Oxford English Dictionary, which said it came from a Greek word meaning either 'pass through' or 'siphon.' (I tried to check with a Greek friend, but he never answered my e-mails.)
For the ancient Greeks, diabetes meant a condition with polyuria and polydipsia, which, in English, means frequent urination, to the point of dehydration, followed by intense, excruciating thirst.
The ancient Greeks said there were two completely different types of diabetes, diabetes mellitus, in which the urine is very sweet, and diabetes insipidus, in which the urine is insipid. Diabetes insipidus is so rare, it has almost disappeared from the modern medical lexicon (according to The New York Times, one woman, suffering from severe diabetes insipidus, went to different doctors for almost four decades before finding one who had ever heard of, and who knew how to treat, diabetes insipidus).
The Oxford English Dictionary says that diabetes mellitus was just a polysyllabic utterance doctors formerly used to sound erudite, and the old term 'diabetes mellitus' have been replaced in modern English by diabetes. Most medical websites only have a listing for diabetes, by which they mean diabetes mellitus.
While the poor woman mentioned above survived almost four decades of diabetes insipidus with no permanent damage, diabetes mellitus, if untreated, is invariably fatal. The definition has changed from sugar in the urine to sugar in the blood, but the results are the same as they were in the days of the ancient Greeks: the sugar damages every organ in the body. The results are amputation of damaged extremities, blindness, strokes, heart disease, and eventually kidney failure, if the diabetic doesn't die of something else first.
I will reluctantly repeat what is on most of the websites: have yourself checked at a competent clinic, and, if diagnosed with diabetes, do what they tell you to treat the disease.
(The reason for my reluctance is the danger of being checked by an incompetent clinic, and given bad advice, something I have witnessed several times.)
posted by Dubai@Random at 10:44 pm
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