💉 Today marks exactly 100 years since Leonard Thompson, a 14-year-old boy dying from type 1 diabetes, became the first person to receive an injection of insulin on 11 January 1922.

A thread 👇 (1/6) ⬇️ Within 24 hours, Leonard’s dangerously high blood sugar levels dropped, but he developed an abscess at the site of the injection and still had high levels of ketones. (2/6)

🤩 #WorldDiabetesDay is finally here!

This year we're celebrating 100 years since the discovery of insulin & the century of life-changing diabetes discoveries it inspired.

👇 Check out our thread to hear about just a few of the breakthroughs we've seen since 1921... (1/12) 1921: Insulin was discovered 🔬 (2/12)

🔬 Today, we have one final #LabToLife story lined up for you as we get ready for #WorldDiabetesDay tomorrow!

Today we’re hearing from Beth Williams, a PhD student whose research is looking at how we might be able to prevent kidney disease in people with diabetes… (1/9) 💬 “Diabetes affects so many people worldwide, and I was fascinated by the fact that one condition can lead to such a variety of secondary complications – the treatments for which, are very limited.” (2/9)

📢 You say research, I say Friday!

It's that time of week again, and today's #ResearchFriday is all about zombie cells... 🧟 (1/6) Cells in our immune systems, called T cells, help us fight infections and heal wounds.

As we get older, T cells can sometimes go wrong and become zombie-like. They don't die as cells naturally should and they turn other cells into 'zombies' too. (2/6)

1/4 On 7th November 1920 – exactly 100 years ago – a Canadian surgeon, Frederick Banting, paid a visit to scientist John Macleod in a meeting that would lead to one of the greatest ever medical breakthroughs. 2/4 Banting wanted help to figure out how to remove insulin from a pancreas, so that it could be used to treat diabetes.

(1/6) Lots of you have been asking whether you need to follow the shielding advice from the government. Here are the facts on shielding, and what it means for people with #diabetes. (2/6) Shielding means staying at home and avoiding all face-to-face contact for at least 12 weeks. It’s a way of protecting extremely vulnerable people who are at a very high risk of severe illness from coronavirus.