19TH CENTURY DIABETES TREATMENTS

Don't try this at home!

Different doctors had their own theories of the best treatment for their diabetes patients. In the late 1850s, French physician Priorry advised diabetes patients to eat extra large quantities of sugar as a treatment. And British doctor Arthur Scott Donkin promoted the therapeutic qualities of a ‘purely milk diet’ for diabetes in his Lancet article of 1869.

In the second half of the 19th century, before insulin was discovered, diabetes treatments mostly consisted of starvation diets. The diets were often harsh and death from starvation was not unknown in patients with type 1 diabetes. In contrast these lowcalorie diets were often found to be quite good in patients with type 2 diabetes.

In the 1870s, a French doctor Bouchardat noticed the disappearance of glycosuria in his diabetes patients during the rationing of food in Paris while under siege by German during the Franco-Prussian War. He formulated the idea of individualised diets for his diabetes patients.

But not every patient was keen on the low-calorie diet. In the late 19th century Italian diabetes specialist Catoni isolated his patients under lock and key – so they would follow their strict diets.

Canadian doctor William Osler advised his diabetic patients in The Principles and Practice of Medicine, 1892, to ‘eat food of easy digestion, such as veal and mutton, and abstain from all sorts of fruit and garden stuff’. Osler, a leading physician of his day, also recommended taking opium, commenting that ‘diabetic patients seem to have a special tolerance for this drug’, a daily lukewarm bath, avoidance of worry, and emigration to an equable climate.

Also writing in the late 19th century, Emil Schnee recommended living in a warm climate – the Riviera in winter, Zurich in summer – and muscular activity starting with billiards, then rowing and wood splitting. His diet recommendations included easily digested foods, no starch or sugar, plus light Moselle wines, old Claret, and good cigars ‘in moderation’.

Diabetes patients in the 19th century were advised to move to a warm European climate.