Los Banos Rotary Club History
Rotarians See Diabetes Film

An educational film of the discovery and development of insulin—life saver of diabetic sufferers—was presented to members of the Rotary Club Tuesday noon by Dr. George B. Pimentel, local physician. The film, produced under sponsorship of the American Medical Society, showed the work, the repeated disappointments and final success of the two Canadian doctors and scientists. Dr. F. G. Banting and Dr. J. J. MacLeod, who discovered insulin after exhaustive studies and experiments in their Toronto, Canada, laboratory, in 1923.

Insulin, a crystalline substance obtained commercially from the pancreas of cattle and sheep, is used phyodermically as a specific for diabetes and enables a sufferer to utilize within his body the sugar necessary for life and health.

The film also showed the vital part that animals played in the laboratory experiments, and eulogized as heroes the dozen or more doges that gave their lives for the benefit of mankind. In this connection Pimentel personally commented on the necessity of animal experimentation work, and condemned the "long hair" agitators who seek to make illegal the use of animals for such work. He labeled such experimental work "absolutely essential" to the progress of medical science, and said that without the benefit of such experimental work, American medicine could not have possibly advanced to its present highly successful stage.

Pimentel also spoke briefly of diabetes as a disease, and warned that it is one of the most serious in America today, though thanks to insulin it is now rarely fatal if diagnosed and treated in its early stages.

In the human and animal body, the doctor explained, the pancreas manufacture natural insulin, which is necessary for the body to use the sugar that is gathered and distributed by the bloodstream. Some people are born with deficient pancreas; in some the pancreas are damaged or destroyed by disease, and as some people grow old, there is a natural degeneration of the pancreas. When the insulin making cells are unable to produce enough insulin, the essential sugar in the blood is spilled by the kidneys in urine, and can be detected by simple tests.

The doctor said the American Medical Assn. is now advocating "group testing" for diabetes, and suggests that as a precautionary measure all individuals can and should obtain from one of the local drug stores a "self tester" unit, to determine the presence of sugar in the urine. Though the presence of sugar does not necessarily mean diabetes and that the patient will have to take insulin extract for the rest of his life, it is sufficient warning that such person should consult a physician, who by further tests and analysis can differentiate true diabetes from other less serious causes of sugar in the urine.

At the luncheon Tuesday, President M. D. Wheat presented perfect attendance buttons to three members, W. H. Sloan, 9 years; Al Fittje, 6 years, and Louie Castellucci, 4 years.

At the annual election for members of the board of directors, Frank Peluso, William Woo and Frank Merrick were elected to office.

R. L. Puccinelli, who is chairman of the annual Rotary-Lions Club trap shoot, reported that arrangements for this affair is proceeding on schedule and that the date would be announced soon.

President Wheat appointed W. N. Galloway to work with a committee from the Dos Palos Rotary Club in the promotion of a golf tournament between the two clubs, to be held sometime this spring.

March 24, 1950

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