Diyabette Beslenmenin Bir Asırlık Serüveni: Dr. Mehmet Kâmil ve Dr. Muzaffer Beylerin Şekerliler Ne Yemelidir? Adlı Eseri - Değerlendirme ve Çeviriyazı
Elif GünalanKan şekeri seviyesinin anormal yüksekliği ile karakterize metabolik bir hastalık olan diyabetin beslenmeyle yakın ilişkisi yüzyıllardır bilinmektedir. Diyabette tıbbi beslenme tedavisine yönelik ilk bilimsel yaklaşımlar ise 20. yüzyılın başlangıcı itibariyle yoğunlaşmaktadır. Ancak, bu dönemin diyet önerileri ve klinik uygulamalarına ilişkin literatür oldukça sınırlıdır. Bu çalışmada, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti’nin ilk yıllarında Harf Devrimi henüz uygulama sürecindeyken, Osmanlı Türkçesiyle yazılan Şekerliler Ne Yemelidir? (İstanbul, 1929) adlı kitapçıktan edinilen bilgiler ışığında yaklaşık bir asır öncesindeki diyabetik tıbbi beslenme tedavisi incelenmiştir. Kitapçık, Şişli Etfal Hastanesinde Dâhiliye uzmanı olan Dr. Mehmed Kâmil (Berk) ile Cerrahpaşa Hastanesi diyabet uzmanı Dr. Muzaffer Şevki (Yener) Beyler tarafından yazılmıştır. Diyabet kitapçığı olarak hazırlanan eser, o dönemin tıbbi tecrübeleri çerçevesinde şeker hastalarının takip etmesi gereken beslenme önerilerini içermektedir. Bu çalışmada eserde yer alan bilgiler dönemin bilimsel literatürü ve günümüz uygulamaları ile karşılaştırılarak diyabette klinik beslenme tedavisinin günümüze dek değişimi değerlendirilmiştir. Ayrıca, eserin tam metni Türkçe’ye çevrilerek, yazarları hakkında da bilgi verilmiştir.
A Century-Long Adventure of Nutrition in Diabetes: An Assessment and Transliteration of Dr. Mehmet Kâmil and Dr. Muzaffer’s What Should Diabetics Consume?
Elif GünalanDiabetes is a metabolic disease characterized by abnormally high blood sugar levels and has been known for centuries to be closely related to nutrition. The first scientific approaches to medical nutrition therapy regarding diabetes intensified at the beginning of the 20th century. However, the literature on dietary recommendations and clinical practices for this disease is quite limited. This study investigates medical nutrition therapy regarding diabetes from a century ago in light of information obtained from a booklet titled What Should Diabetics Eat? (Istanbul, 1929), which was published in Ottoman Turkish while the Alphabet Reform being implemented in the early years of the Turkish Republic. The booklet was written by Dr. Mr. Mehmet Kâmil, an internist at Şişli Etfal Hospital, and by Dr. Mr. Muzaffer, the physician at Galatasaray High School. The work was prepared as a diabetes booklet and includes nutritional recommendations that diabetic individuals should follow within the framework of the medical experience of that period. This study compares the recommendations given in the booklet both with the scientific literature of the period and with current practices and evaluates the changes that have occurred in clinical nutrition therapy regarding diabetes up until the present day. The present article also includes information about the authors of the booklet, as well as its full text in Latin characters.
Diabetes involves a group of metabolic dysfunctions characterized by high blood sugar levels caused by the body’s inability to produce insulin, insulin resistance, or a combination of both. Nutrition undisputedly has one of the most significant roles in managing diabetes. In planning a nutritional schedule for a diabetic individual, personal factors such as body weight and lifestyle can be effective alongside developments in health technologies. The first scientific findings about medical nutrition therapy regarding diabetes intensified in the early period of the 20th century. However, the literature on dietary recommendations and clinical practices during this time were quite limited. The current study investigates medical nutrition therapy regarding diabetes from a century ago using information obtained from the booklet What Should Diabetics Eat? written in Ottoman Turkish in Istanbul in 1929. The authors were Dr. Mehmet Kâmil, an internist at the Şişli Etfal Hospital, and Dr. Muzaffer, the physician of the Galatasaray High School. The diabetes booklet includes nutritional recommendations about what diabetics should follow. Accordingly, the physicians from this period recommended changes to nutrition in order to treat their patients with diabetes and the accompanying obesity, weakness, and stomach, intestine, liver, and kidney diseases. However, physicians were considered not likely to be able to convey the details of a diet to patients, to have patients note these down or remember it, or to write down a diet in line with the conditions of the period. Dr. Kâmil and Dr. Muzaffer stated that they had written the diabetes booklet to eliminate these challenges.
This diabetes booklet briefly presents the main topics in the table of contents. The booklet has seven sections that define diabetes and its types, etiology, physiology, and the conditions requiring diet therapy in an easily understandable way. The items patients are allowed to eat and drink are described in the first five sections. The first section deals with fresh meat, offal, meat preserves, and other nitrogenous foods, as well as fresh fish, fish preserves, fish-derived foods and edible sea creatures, eggs, oils, cheeses, green vegetables, fruits, dried fruits, canned vegetables, spices, pickles, soups, and beverages. The second section addresses essential oils and olive oils, while the third section discusses vegetables and raw fruits with less starch. The fourth section covers foods equivalent to 10 g of wheat bread, and various examples of the amount of food to be consumed in a day. The fifth section deals with some general opinions about offal, fish dishes, meat and vegetables, salads and snacks, personalized treatments, special rules about drinks, how to serve meals, and meal schedules. The sixth section provides some special diets such as the urinalysis diet, a vegetable diet, and an oat diet, as well as some complementary information on foods containing gluten and sugar-free fruits. The seventh chapter finishes with some recommendations for diabetics and a summary of the booklet.
In order to evaluate the diabetic medical nutrition therapy the authors recommended, this article compares the contents of the booklet with the scientific literature of the period as well as with current practices. This comparison highlights the changes that have occurred in clinical nutrition therapy regarding diabetes from the 1930s up to the present day. This article also transliterates the full text of the booklet from Ottoman Turkish written with Arabic characters into Turkish with Latin characters. Brief information is also given about the two medical doctors who authored the book.
This study is offered to the centennial of the Republic of Türkiye in commemoration of all Republican physicians who, similar to Dr. Mehmet Kâmil Berk and Dr. Muzaffer Şevki Yener, made contributions to medical treatment with great zeal.
