THE SYMPTOM—EXCESSIVE URINATION—was distinct, and the treatment, experimental: a regimen of elderberry, milk, green dates, and “water from the bird pond.” It was the Third Dynasty in Egypt, the patient was the Pharaoh Djoser, and the doctor, Hesy Ra, the ruler’s chief physician. There’s no record of whether Djoser’s condition improved, but today, more than 4,500 years later, his disease would receive a diagnosis familiar to many: type 2 diabetes.
Medicine has come a long way since those pond water days, which is fortunate, because the demand for effective diabetes treatments has never been so great. Around the world, 529 million people are living with the disease. More than 1 in 10 Americans now have diabetes, according to CDC estimates. An additional 38 percent of Americans have pre-diabetes, which means…
