Arthur Scott Donkin

Arthur Scott Donkin (6 July 1828 – 3 September 1883) was a British physician and writer known for his research on diabetes. Donkin proposed a skimmed milk treatment for Bright's disease and diabetes.

Biography

Donkin was born to Samuel Donkin (1801–1888) and Sarah Scott. Donkin was lecturer in Medical Jurisprudence and Toxicology at the University of Durham.

Donkin did not originate the use of skimmed milk to treat diabetes but was a notable proponent of using it exclusively to treat his patients. He also used it to treat Bright's disease. Whilst a physician to the Sunderland Infirmary he reported that his diabetic patients had a "complete and permanent recovery" in 15 days on a diet of skim-milk. Donkin reported his results in a series of papers in The Lancet journal.

Selected publications

The Natural History of the British Diatomaceae (1870) The Skim-Milk Treatment of Diabetes and Bright's Disease (1871) Further Observations on the Skim-Milk Treatment of Diabetes Mellitus (1873) On the Relation Between Diabetes and Food and Its Application to the Treatment of the Disease (1875)