Memory of Nestor

Abstract

Every November 14 is commemorated the anniversary of the birth of Dr. Frederick Banting who together with the student Charles Best discovered insulin 100 years ago.

The discovery generated great international repercussion, especially for children and young people with diabetes mellitus who had a life expectancy of 6 months from their diagnosis and who experienced a complete change in their lethal prognosis with the injection of the hormone. The first of them was Leonhard Thompson, a teenager with an irreversible diabetic coma that, thanks to the new medication, saved his life. In Argentina, on August 1, 1923, insulin was administered to a person for the first time by the joint action of professors Bernardo Houssay and Pedro Escudero.

Currently the disease affects approximately 500 million people and numerous research groups around the world dedicated to its study.

Throughout the world, various medical professionals have dealt and are dealing with diabetes mellitus; In our country, one of them has been Dr. Néstor Serantes, a professor with a great personality and character who dedicated his life to the treatment of diabetes, especially diabetes and pregnancy. These lines are a heartfelt tribute to his career.