ABSTRACT
Early Descriptions of Diabetes Ancient records up to 3000 years old describe a disease in youth that was sudden in onset, resulted in acute metabolic decompensation, and culminated in death. Although this clinical picture described millennia ago was likely that of diabetes, the first accepted description of diabetes as a disorder associated with increased urine output came from ancient Egypt (the Ebers papyrus) around 1550 B.C. It was not until the second century B.C. that the term ‘‘diabetes’’ was used. Credit for coining ‘‘diabetes’’ is given to Demetrios of Apamaia who derived the term from the Greek word diabeinein, meaning ‘‘siphon’’ or ‘‘pass through.’’
