INSULIN
[To the Editor of the SPECTATOR.] Sul,—In your issue of March 7th, you rightly remark that " no remedy has had more publicity than insulin." It is a pity that the Spectator should add to that publicity. How can it be said that insulin " unquestionably prolongs life," when its use has been followed by a steady increase in the diabetic death-rate? The figures since 1923, after which "the con- sumption of insulin has increased steadily " are, per million : 109, 112, 115, 126, 131, 142. Splitting up into age-periods may provide an excuse for getting out of this damning fact, but while insulin may be a palliative, it certainly cannot be said to " prolong life." Its dangers are well known, and the testimony of those who use it is by no means unanimous. It was obtained by possible cruelty, and it has been commer- cialized. The really remarkable fall in the death-rate through diet treatment never received the advertisement which this statistically condemned treatment has received.—I am, Sir,
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