RD201906

(avery) #1

6 june 2019 | rd.com


fr

om

to

p:^

co

ur

te

sy

th

om

as

fi

sh

er

ra

re

bo

ok

li

br

ar

y,^

un

iv

er

sit

y^ o

ft

or

on

to

.^ m


ik

e^ m

cg

re

go

r

Reader’s Digest


DEAR READER


W


with type 1 diabetes. At the time, the
diagnosis was a death sentence.
Somehow this insurance man from
Huron, South Dakota, made his way
to the Mayo Clinic in Minnesota,
where doctors were testing a new
drug. Charles was accepted as one of
the guinea pigs. He noted that each
day’s injection cost him a small for-
tune, though luckily he could afford it.
By the time the University of Toronto
team of doctors that had invented
insulin won a Nobel Prize, in 1923,

of life.

Family Secret


It was a shock, totally out of the blue.
There was no known history of diabetes
in my family.
For 20 years, I injected my insulin
and took care of myself, but still I felt
orphaned by my inexplicable disease.
Charles’s story changed that instantly.
As our cover story (see page 56)
makes clear, scientists still don’t have
answers for everything—far from it. No
one will ever know what triggered the

clinical subject. I thank them frequently.
Free download pdf