The Race For Insulin Pills, So Diabetics Can Put Their Needles Away

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Northerner

Northerner

Admin (Retired)
Relationship to Diabetes
Type 1
In 2011, it was estimated that 8.3% of Americans--25.8 million children and adults in all--have diabetes. A great number of them use insulin to regulate their condition, through either syringes or insulin pumps because insulin is a peptide hormone which breaks up when swallowed. But a new holy grail for insulin patients is on the way: a swallowable insulin pill. Two biopharma companies--a large multinational and a small Israeli firm--are racing to create the first insulin pills; it is likely that within 15 years, diabetics will be able to get rid of their needles entirely.

Nadav Kidron is excited about his product's progress. The Israeli pharmaceutical executive heads up Oramed, which received a patent in the European Union less than two weeks ago for oral ingestion of insulin. ?We want to make sure oral insulin isn't a last resort,? Kidron told Fast Company in a telephone interview. ?We want to complement the body's insulin output and make it a primary solution alongside exercise and not a last resort like injection. Billions of dollars are spent each year on diabetes, and we cannot spend that much as a society. There is no other choice.?

http://www.fastcompany.com/3022282/a-diabetic-seismic-shift-the-race-for-insulin-pills
 
Why is this a holy grail? More like a cheap worse alternative! Everyone who isn't diabetic thinks that the injections are the worst thing about it, which is nonsense. The constant balancing act to keep things on an even keel is the worst thing, and that will be made much more difficult if you have to factor in the uncertain timing of a passage through your digestive system before the insulin can start acting. Not to mention the possible side effects of these pills in terms of stomach upsets etc. I say NO THANKS! 🙂
 
Redkite said:
Why is this a holy grail? More like a cheap worse alternative! Everyone who isn't diabetic thinks that the injections are the worst thing about it, which is nonsense. The constant balancing act to keep things on an even keel is the worst thing, and that will be made much more difficult if you have to factor in the uncertain timing of a passage through your digestive system before the insulin can start acting. Not to mention the possible side effects of these pills in terms of stomach upsets etc. I say NO THANKS! 🙂
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I think the idea is that, for the majority of diabetics around the world who have trouble complying with their diabetes management, it will be something they are more likely to be open to, so will help reduce levels from 😱 😱 to just 😱. Bearing in mind that a lot of HCPs use insulin injections as a threat to try and get people to comply with their oral meds, it can be imagined that a lot who end up needing it don't use it properly because they are terrified of it.

Easier to store and transport than insulin, which requires a fairly narrow environment and may have more limited lifespan.
 
All this is true Alan ......

BUT I know it WORKS and I know HOW it works, which is the main thing really. This enables me (give or take, LOL) to live with the thing on an ongoing comfy basis.

I don't want anything that might take me back to guesswork and nasty surprises, Ta !
 
If a large number of diabetics have problems taking the meds they already have, what makes the powers imagine any of them will take another one?
 
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