John Rollo M.D. (d. December 23, 1809) was a Scottish military surgeon, now known for his work on a

diabetic diet A diabetic diet is a Diet (nutrition), diet that is used by people with diabetes mellitus or high blood sugar to minimize symptoms and dangerous complications of long-term elevations in blood sugar (i.e.: cardiovascular disease, Diabetic nephrop ...

. Rollo was the first to suggest a

low-carbohydrate diet Low-carbohydrate diets restrict carbohydrate consumption relative to the average diet (nutrition), diet. Foods high in carbohydrates (e.g., sugar, bread, pasta) are limited, and replaced with foods containing a higher percentage of fat and pro ...

as a treatment for diabetes.Veves, Aristidis; Malik, Rayaz A. (2007). ''Diabetic Neuropathy: Clinical Management''. Humana Press. p. 3.

Life

He was born in Scotland, and received his medical education at Edinburgh. He became a surgeon in the

Royal Artillery The Royal Regiment of Artillery, commonly referred to as the Royal Artillery (RA) and colloquially known as "The Gunners", is one of two regiments that make up the artillery arm of the British Army. The Royal Regiment of Artillery comprises t ...

in 1776, and then served in the West Indies. In 1778 the

University of St Andrews The University of St Andrews (, ; abbreviated as St And in post-nominals) is a public university in St Andrews, Scotland. It is the List of oldest universities in continuous operation, oldest of the four ancient universities of Scotland and, f ...

made him M.D. He was stationed in

St. Lucia Saint Lucia is an island country of the West Indies in the eastern Caribbean. Part of the Windward Islands of the Lesser Antilles, it is located north/northeast of the island of Saint Vincent (Saint Vincent and the Grenadines), Saint Vincent ...

in 1778–9 and in

Barbados Barbados, officially the Republic of Barbados, is an island country in the Atlantic Ocean. It is part of the Lesser Antilles of the West Indies and the easternmost island of the Caribbean region. It lies on the boundary of the South American ...

in 1781. His associates included Colin Chisholm on

Grenada Grenada is an island country of the West Indies in the eastern Caribbean Sea. The southernmost of the Windward Islands, Grenada is directly south of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines and about north of Trinidad and Tobago, Trinidad and the So ...

. Rollo became surgeon-general of the Royal Artillery in 1794, and returned to the

Royal Military Academy, Woolwich The Royal Military Academy (RMA) at Woolwich, in south-east London, was a British Army military academy for the training of Officer (armed forces), commissioned officers of the Royal Artillery and Royal Engineers. It later also trained officers o ...

. There he oversaw the construction of the enlarged Royal Artillery Hospital: the Royal Ordnance Hospital dated from about 1780, and the enlargement was completed in 1806 (the building later became the Connaught Barracks). From 1804 he was inspector of hospitals for the Ordnance.

Rollo was frequently consulted about cases of

diabetes Diabetes mellitus, commonly known as diabetes, is a group of common endocrine diseases characterized by sustained high blood sugar levels. Diabetes is due to either the pancreas not producing enough of the hormone insulin, or the cells of th ...

, and in treatment had some success with the use of a nitrogenous diet. He died at Woolwich on 23 December 1809, and was buried at

Plumstead Plumstead is an area in southeast London, within the Royal Borough of Greenwich, England. It is located east of Woolwich. History Plumstead has been settled since ancient times, and London's earliest timber structure has been found here. ...

Greenwich Greenwich ( , , ) is an List of areas of London, area in south-east London, England, within the Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county of Greater London, east-south-east of Charing Cross. Greenwich is notable for its maritime hi ...

Diabetes

In 1797, Rollo printed at Deptford ''Notes of a Diabetic Case'', which described the improvement of an officer with diabetes who was placed on a meat diet. He was the first to take Matthew Dobson's discovery of

glycosuria Glycosuria is the excretion of glucose into the urine. Ordinarily, urine contains no glucose because the kidneys are able to reabsorb all of the filtered glucose from the tubular fluid back into the bloodstream. Glycosuria is nearly always cause ...

diabetes mellitus Diabetes mellitus, commonly known as diabetes, is a group of common endocrine diseases characterized by sustained hyperglycemia, high blood sugar levels. Diabetes is due to either the pancreas not producing enough of the hormone insulin, or th ...

and apply it to managing metabolism. By means of Dobson's testing procedure (for

glucose Glucose is a sugar with the Chemical formula#Molecular formula, molecular formula , which is often abbreviated as Glc. It is overall the most abundant monosaccharide, a subcategory of carbohydrates. It is mainly made by plants and most algae d ...

in the urine) Rollo worked out a diet that had success for what is now called type 2 diabetes. The addition of the term "mellitus", distinguishing the condition from

diabetes insipidus Diabetes insipidus (DI) is a condition characterized by large amounts of dilute urine and increased thirst. The amount of urine produced can be nearly 20 liters per day. Reduction of fluid has little effect on the concentration of the urine. ...

, has been attributed to Rollo. Rollo's diet for diabetic patients consisted of "milk, lime water, bread and butter, blood pudding, meat, and rancid fat". He has been described as "the first one to recommend a diet low in carbohydrates as a treatment for diabetes." Rollo collaborated with William Cruickshank, who was the chemistry assistant at Woolwich. In another edition of the work, ''An Account of Two Cases of the Diabetes Mellitus'', published in 1798, other cases were added, and some of Cruikshank's research on urine and sugar in diabetics was included. A further edition appeared in 1806. John Latham supported Rollo's views on the treatment. In 1824 the ''

Encyclopædia Britannica The is a general knowledge, general-knowledge English-language encyclopaedia. It has been published by Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc. since 1768, although the company has changed ownership seven times. The 2010 version of the 15th edition, ...

'' in its article "Dietetics" commented that the diet was successful in repressing the condition of the patients' urine, but that the patients often found the high fat content intolerable. This kind of dietary management continued to the 1920s, being more successful for adults, who might survive some years, than for young patients who typically had only some months of life on it. Other collaborations of Rollo and Cruikshank related to treatments for

syphilis Syphilis () is a sexually transmitted infection caused by the bacterium ''Treponema pallidum'' subspecies ''pallidum''. The signs and symptoms depend on the stage it presents: primary, secondary, latent syphilis, latent or tertiary. The prim ...

involving acids, and published with the work on diabetes;

proteinuria Proteinuria is the presence of excess proteins in the urine. In healthy persons, urine contains very little protein, less than 150 mg/day; an excess is suggestive of illness. Excess protein in the urine often causes the urine to become fo ...

; and

strontium Strontium is a chemical element; it has symbol Sr and atomic number 38. An alkaline earth metal, it is a soft silver-white yellowish metallic element that is highly chemically reactive. The metal forms a dark oxide layer when it is exposed to ...

Other work

Rollo published ''Observations on the Diseases in the Army on St. Lucia'', in 1781; and in 1785 ''Remarks on the Disease lately described by Dr. Hendy'', on a form of

elephantiasis Elephantiasis, often incorrectly called elephantitis, is the enlargement and hardening of limbs or body parts due to tissue swelling (edema). It is characterised by edema, hypertrophy, and fibrosis of skin and subcutaneous tissues, due to obstru ...

known as "Barbados leg". In 1786 he published ''Observations on the Acute Dysentery''. Rollo published in 1801 a ''Short Account of the Royal Artillery Hospital at Woolwich''. He had kept a record of his cases in Barbados, and the ''Account'' included a similar table for the Ordnance hospital.jameslindlibrary.org, ''Tröhler U (2010). The introduction of numerical methods to assess the effects of medical interventions during the 18th century: a brief history.''
/ref> In 1804 a ''Medical Report on Cases of Inoculation'' supported the views of

Edward Jenner Edward Jenner (17 May 1749 – 26 January 1823) was an English physician and scientist who pioneered the concept of vaccines and created the smallpox vaccine, the world's first vaccine. The terms ''vaccine'' and ''vaccination'' are derived f ...

Life

Diabetes

Other work

References

Further reading