Roberto Nóvoa Santos (1885-1933). Precursor to the treatment of diabetes with incretins
FERNANDO J. PONTE HERNANDO
Fellow of the Spanish Society of History of Medicine, Pediatrician, C.S. Sta. Eugenia de Riveira, A Coruña, Spain

Drugs with incretin effect are widely used today in the treatment of diabetes mellitus. Traditionally the concept of “incretins” is attributed to the Belgian researcher La Barre at the beginning of the 1930s. However, this study shows that Roberto Nóvoa Santos‡, while Chairman of General Pathology at the University of Santiago (Spain), developed interesting and sometimes controversial studies of secretin to support this idea, predating La Barre by, at least, five years. La Barre cited Novoa's research to support his own theory on incretin. Moreover, Nóvoa also proposed to use drugs based on this concept for diagnosis and treatment of those diabetics who still retained some functional reserve. Therefore, he pioneered by at least 70 years modern approaches in the treatment of diabetes. Obesity and Metabolism 2010; 6: 19-21.

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