100 years since insulin discovery, Canadian scientists push for new diabetes treatments

On World Diabetes Day, we take a look at the progress in treatments of the chronic autoimmune disease that affects one in three Canadians.

Exactly 100 years since the discovery of insulin by a team of Canadian researchers revolutionized the treatment of diabetes, the autoimmune disease continues to affect millions of Canadians with no cure in sight.

Advancements in science and technology have enabled us to monitor and manage diabetes better, but there is still room for improvement, experts say.

“Despite all of our advances, we still see a lot of complications of diabetes today, even in Canada, and so I think we have a lot of room to improve,” said Dr. Jeremy Gilbert, an endocrinologist at Sunnybrook Health Science Centre in Toronto.

More than 11 million Canadians, or one in three, are living with diabetes or prediabetes, according to Diabetes Canada.

Every hour of every day, at least 20 people are diagnosed with the disease and every 24 hours, more than 20 Canadians die of diabetes-related complications.

Diabetes is a chronic disease that occurs when the body is unable to produce or properly use insulin – a hormone that controls blood sugar levels.

If left uncontrolled, diabetes results in consistently high levels of blood sugar, which can lead to serious complications such as cardiovascular disease, vision loss, kidney failure, nerve damage and amputation.

Diabetes is also among the top 10 causes of death globally, according to the World Health Organization (WHO).