Frederick Madison Allen
Encyclopedia
Frederick Madison Allen was a doctor who is perhaps best remembered today for his work on a diet for sufferers of diabetes mellitus
. Born in Iowa
, he later studied medicine in California, after which time he was employed in a poorly paid position at Harvard University
, before his work in New Jersey
and in Boston, Massachusetts, around about 1919. His interest in diabetes gave him the idea of a "starvation diet" for diabetic patients, and he opened the Physiatric Institute in Morristown, New Jersey
, the world's first clinic for sufferers of diabetes mellitus, on April 26, 1921.
Before Frederick Banting
first used insulin to treat diabetes, in 1922, Allen was recommending a diet which could prolong the lives of sufferers of diabetes mellitus, a fatal illness at the time. This diet involved drastic reduction of calorie, especially carbohydrate, intake, sometimes involving as little as 8% of calorie intake coming from carbohydrates. Although this could reduce incidence of glycosuria
in people with diabetes mellitus, it did not prolong life by more than a few years. As Williams and Pickup (2004) note, the advances made in our understanding of diabetes in the late nineteenth century were not matched by great advances in treatment until Banting's isolation of insulin
; these authors note how people with diabetes mellitus who did act for active treatment would opt to go on the starvation diet recommended by Allen.
Allen was not the first person to recommend treatment of diabetes by diet; as Ramachandran and Viswanathan (1998) point out, dietary treatment of diabetes mellitus was used in ancient Egypt as long ago as 3,500 B.C., and was being used in India about 2,500 years ago. These authors note that in the eighteenth century, John Rollo had observed that glycosuria
in diabetics could be reduced if sufferers of diabetes mellitus reduced the quantity of their food consumed. However, Allen became famous in his own day for his recommendations, and Allen and his co-workers published their work on the diabetic diet
in 1919, in a work entitled "Total Dietary Regulation in the Treatment of Diabetes". Today, however, diabetologists would take quite different views on this subject to those promoted by Allen. Indeed, Joslin, in 1922, suggested different diet recommendations to those of Allen, suggesting a reduction of fat
rather than carbohydrate
, with the overall goal of reduction in calorie intake (Hockaday, 1981). Allen has been named as one of the two leading diabetologists, along with Elliott P. Joslin
, in the period 1910 to 1920, and later worked at the Rockefeller Institute.
Diabetes mellitus
Diabetes mellitus, often simply referred to as diabetes, is a group of metabolic diseases in which a person has high blood sugar, either because the body does not produce enough insulin, or because cells do not respond to the insulin that is produced...
. Born in Iowa
Iowa
Iowa is a state located in the Midwestern United States, an area often referred to as the "American Heartland". It derives its name from the Ioway people, one of the many American Indian tribes that occupied the state at the time of European exploration. Iowa was a part of the French colony of New...
, he later studied medicine in California, after which time he was employed in a poorly paid position at Harvard University
Harvard University
Harvard University is a private Ivy League university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States, established in 1636 by the Massachusetts legislature. Harvard is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States and the first corporation chartered in the country...
, before his work in New Jersey
New Jersey
New Jersey is a state in the Northeastern and Middle Atlantic regions of the United States. , its population was 8,791,894. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York, on the southeast and south by the Atlantic Ocean, on the west by Pennsylvania and on the southwest by Delaware...
and in Boston, Massachusetts, around about 1919. His interest in diabetes gave him the idea of a "starvation diet" for diabetic patients, and he opened the Physiatric Institute in Morristown, New Jersey
Morristown, New Jersey
Morristown is a town in Morris County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2010 United States Census, the town population was 18,411. It is the county seat of Morris County. Morristown became characterized as "the military capital of the American Revolution" because of its strategic role in the...
, the world's first clinic for sufferers of diabetes mellitus, on April 26, 1921.
Before Frederick Banting
Frederick Banting
Sir Frederick Grant Banting, KBE, MC, FRS, FRSC was a Canadian medical scientist, doctor and Nobel laureate noted as one of the main discoverers of insulin....
first used insulin to treat diabetes, in 1922, Allen was recommending a diet which could prolong the lives of sufferers of diabetes mellitus, a fatal illness at the time. This diet involved drastic reduction of calorie, especially carbohydrate, intake, sometimes involving as little as 8% of calorie intake coming from carbohydrates. Although this could reduce incidence of glycosuria
Glycosuria
Glycosuria or glucosuria is the excretion of glucose into the urine. Ordinarily, urine contains no glucose because the kidneys are able to reclaim all of the filtered glucose back into the bloodstream. Glycosuria is nearly always caused by elevated blood glucose levels, most commonly due to...
in people with diabetes mellitus, it did not prolong life by more than a few years. As Williams and Pickup (2004) note, the advances made in our understanding of diabetes in the late nineteenth century were not matched by great advances in treatment until Banting's isolation of insulin
Insulin
Insulin is a hormone central to regulating carbohydrate and fat metabolism in the body. Insulin causes cells in the liver, muscle, and fat tissue to take up glucose from the blood, storing it as glycogen in the liver and muscle....
; these authors note how people with diabetes mellitus who did act for active treatment would opt to go on the starvation diet recommended by Allen.
Allen was not the first person to recommend treatment of diabetes by diet; as Ramachandran and Viswanathan (1998) point out, dietary treatment of diabetes mellitus was used in ancient Egypt as long ago as 3,500 B.C., and was being used in India about 2,500 years ago. These authors note that in the eighteenth century, John Rollo had observed that glycosuria
Glycosuria
Glycosuria or glucosuria is the excretion of glucose into the urine. Ordinarily, urine contains no glucose because the kidneys are able to reclaim all of the filtered glucose back into the bloodstream. Glycosuria is nearly always caused by elevated blood glucose levels, most commonly due to...
in diabetics could be reduced if sufferers of diabetes mellitus reduced the quantity of their food consumed. However, Allen became famous in his own day for his recommendations, and Allen and his co-workers published their work on the diabetic diet
Diabetic diet
There is much controversy regarding what diet to recommend to sufferers of diabetes mellitus. The diet most often recommended is high in dietary fiber, especially soluble fiber, but low in fat . Recommendations of the fraction of total calories to be obtained from carbohydrate intake range from 1/6...
in 1919, in a work entitled "Total Dietary Regulation in the Treatment of Diabetes". Today, however, diabetologists would take quite different views on this subject to those promoted by Allen. Indeed, Joslin, in 1922, suggested different diet recommendations to those of Allen, suggesting a reduction of fat
Fat
Fats consist of a wide group of compounds that are generally soluble in organic solvents and generally insoluble in water. Chemically, fats are triglycerides, triesters of glycerol and any of several fatty acids. Fats may be either solid or liquid at room temperature, depending on their structure...
rather than carbohydrate
Carbohydrate
A carbohydrate is an organic compound with the empirical formula ; that is, consists only of carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen, with a hydrogen:oxygen atom ratio of 2:1 . However, there are exceptions to this. One common example would be deoxyribose, a component of DNA, which has the empirical...
, with the overall goal of reduction in calorie intake (Hockaday, 1981). Allen has been named as one of the two leading diabetologists, along with Elliott P. Joslin
Elliott P. Joslin
Elliott Proctor Joslin, M.D. was the first doctor in the United States to specialize in diabetes and was the founder of today’s Joslin Diabetes Center. He was the first to advocate for teaching patients to care for their own diabetes, an approach now commonly referred to as “DSME” or Diabetes...
, in the period 1910 to 1920, and later worked at the Rockefeller Institute.
Sources
- Hockaday, T.D.R. (1981). Should the diabetic diet be based on carbohydrate of fat restriction? In M. Turner & B. Thomas (eds.). Nutrition and Diabetes. London : Libbey, 1981. pp23-32.ISBN 0861960084
- Ramachandran, A. & Viswanathan, M. (1998). Dietary management of diabetes mellitus in India and South Asia. In K.G.M.M. Alberti, R.A. DeFronzo & P. Zimmet (eds.). International textbook of diabetes mellitus. pp773-777. Chichester : Wiley, 1997.
- Williams, G. & Pickup, J. (2004). The handbook of diabetes (third edition). Oxford : Blackwell Science, 2004. ISBN 1405120525