Diagnosis of diabetes mellitus at the Hospital of Venice in 1863

In 1674 Thomas Willis reported that the presence of urine 'as sweet as hone y' was the pathognomonic sign of diabetes mellitus. In the 19th Century sev eral reactions for the detection of glucose in urine were proposed and gluc ose measurement became common in the laboratories that were being set up in Europe. A case of diabetes mellitus, diagnosed by Namias, the head of the Women's Section of the Medicine Department of Venice Hospital, was reported in 1863 in the 'Giornale Veneto di Scienze Mediche' which contains clinica l and laboratory information. A 34-year-old woman was admitted to the hospi tal for polydypsia, polyuria, bulimia and fatigue. Urine was weighed for 2 months (2-10 kg day(-1)) and the relative density ranged from 1.045 to 1,03 8. Glucose was measured in the urine using Moore, Trommer and Fehling reage nts. A few days after admission a urine sample showed 7.69 parts/100 parts of urine and a blood sample showed 547 me of glucose/100 g of serum. The as says were carried out in the Clinical Laboratory of Venice Hospital, founde d in 1863, directed by Giovanni Bizio, one of the first chemists who gradua ted at Padua University. In 1863 chemical analyses were commonly carried ou t in Venice as in the other parts of Habsburg empire. (C) 2000 Elsevier Sci ence B.V. All rights reserved.