Conclusions
A perusal of the trend of the diabetic death rates indicates that following the introduction of insulin there was a short drop in the deaths from the disease, but the upward trend was resumed within two years and over a dozen years elapsed before any pronounced change occurred in the trend. For the past eight years the adjusted diabetic death rate has shown no increase and there is even some indication of a regression. The cause of this change is unknown although chronological it follows the use of protamine zinc insulin. Morbidity, on the other hand, has been on the increase and as yet has not shown a tendency to change. A stationary adjusted death rate and an increasing morbidity rate cannot continue indefinitely. A change must occur in one or the other of these rates.
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References
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Lombard, H.L., Joslin, E.P. Certification of death of 1,000 diabetic patients. Jour. D. D. 14, 275–278 (1947). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF03001339
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF03001339