1950s

•  Research of DNA to make a form of human insulin begins.

August 15, 1950

•  President Truman signs the Omnibus Medical Research Act into law establishing the National Institute of Arthritis and Metabolic Diseases for the clinical investigation of rheumatic diseases, diabetes, and a number of metabolic, endocrine and gastrointestinal diseases. The Institute was renamed several times over the next few decades and today is known as the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDKD).

1955

•  Oral drugs are introduced to help lower blood glucose levels.

1960s

•  The purity of insulin is improved; Home testing for sugar levels in urine increases level of control for diabetics.

1966

•  First pancreas transplant in humans performed at the University of Manitoba.

1970

•  Blood glucose meters and insulin pumps are developed.

•  Laser therapy is used to help slow or prevent blindness in some people with diabetes.

1973

•  The first National Institutes of Health Diabetes-Endocrinology Research Center is established.

1974

•  Citing diabetes as a major national health problem, U.S. Congress passes the Diabetes Mellitus Research Education Act thereby establishing the National Diabetes Commission charged with creating a long-term plan to combat the disease.

1974-1976

•  The concept of Type 1 diabetes as an immune-mediated disease emerges.

1975

•  The first study offering scientific proof on the distinction between Types 1 and 2 diabetes is published in The Lancet.

1975

•  The U.S. National Commission on Diabetes delivers its Long-Range Plan to Combat Diabetes report recommending expansion and coordination of diabetes and related research programs, creation of a diabetes research and training centers program, acceleration of efforts in diabetes health care, education, and control programs, and the establishment of a National Diabetes Advisory Board.

1976

•  The U.S. National Commission on Digestive Diseases is established to investigate the incidence, duration, mortality rates, and social and economic impact of digestive diseases, among other tasks.

•  The National Diabetes Advisory Board is established based on the recommendations of the National Commission.

1977

•  Over $5 million in grants helps establish the U.S. Diabetes Research and Training Centers.

•  The National Diabetes Data Group is set-up to collect, analyze, and disseminate data on diabetes to scientific and public health policy and planning associations.

1979

•  The NDDG recommends a new classification and diagnosis system for diabetes mellitus; Insulin dependent diabetes mellitus, or IDDM as it was known, is renamed “Type 1” diabetes while non-insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus, or NIDDM, is renamed “Type 2” diabetes; The new system identifies two other categories - gestational diabetes and “other specific types" of diabetes.

1980

•  The NDDG's document and reclassification system is endorsed by the World Health Organization.

1983

•  First biosynthetic human insulin is introduced.

1986

•  Insulin pen delivery system is developed.

1990-1997

•  More sophisticated insulin analogues are introduced, and multiple injections and insulin pumps offer promise of closer control.

1996

•  The U.S. Food and Drug Administration approves human insulin made from DNA.

•  The world celebrates the 75th Anniversary of the discovery of insulin.

1997

•  The NIH and Centers for Disease Control announce the establishment of the National Diabetes Education Program NDEP to reduce the rising prevalence of diabetes, the morbidity and mortality of the disease, and its complications.

•  The Sansum Medical Research Foundation in Santa Barbara , California announces their dedication to find a cure for insulin dependent diabetes.

1998

•  The United Kingdom Prospective Diabetes Study is published. UKPDS results clearly identify the importance of good glucose control and good blood pressure control in the delay and/or prevention of complications in Type 2 diabetes.

1999

•  Guidelines for the Nutritional Management of Diabetes is published.

Additional Historical Timeline Sources: Canadian Diabetes Association http://www.diabetes.ca/Section_About/timeline.asp; Postgraduate Medicine online / Joan MacCracken. From Ants to Analogues: Puzzles and Promises in Diabetes Management. http://www.postgradmed.com/issues/1997/04_97/diabetes.htm; National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases; Worldhistory.com