The Signs and Causes of Diabetes

Abstract

The preliminary signs of diabetes are many: white spittle, a dry mouth, heat in the belly, cold entering the bladder, and wasting of the body: and it is accompanied by a mighty and insatiable thirst, so that an immense amount is drunk, though less so when there is no coction of the urine. The body’s flesh is transformed into a tenuous liquor. The cause of this is fiery heat that powerfully affects the vigour of the kidneys and its faculty of retention: often a vicious, salty, bitter humour that dries up the substance of the kidneys, scorching with fire. The bite of the serpent Dipsas that furrows the Libyan sand produces this great thirst and frequent drinking, though little urine is passed for it is not profuse in the diabets.