

Indian Scientists developed Insulin Pill for diabetics - conductor
http://www.jagranjosh.com/current-affairs/indian-scientists-developed-insulin-pill-for-diabetics-1387625296-1

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jimrandomh
> the effects of the pill lasted longer than injected insulin

A non-diabetic might think this was a good thing, but it's more likely to be a
serious problem. The actual research article
([http://pubs.acs.org/doi/abs/10.1021/bm401580k](http://pubs.acs.org/doi/abs/10.1021/bm401580k))
is paywalled, so I can't see what its pharmacokinetics are, but I'm not
inclined to give the benefit of the doubt; unlike most drugs, insulin needs
rapid uptake, precise timing and precise dosing. Even if it did survive the
digestive tract, interactions with foods that altered the effective dose, or
sped up or slowed absorption, would be likely to sink it in actual use.

~~~
marquis
Estrogen and progestin are given in slow-release IUDs or subdermal methods. Is
science not able to apply the same?

~~~
refurb
Estrogen and progestin need to be at a certain, constant level. Insulin needs
to be at varying levels based on blood sugar. To much insulin and you go into
hypoglycemic shock.

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codva
One thing I've learned from my Type 1 wife is to never get excited about this
sort of stuff. Her father was a Lilly executive and they tried to get her to
use the insulin nose spray back in the 80s. She passed, and a few years later
it was pulled from the market as it was destroying the user's nasal passages.

She was also a beta tester for a blood meter that didn't need disposable test
strips. It got pulled by the FDA.

I always root for advances in diabetes management, or dream of dreams, a cure.
But I'm not expecting it.

~~~
dkirkman
Living with a type 1 for a number of years has given me a similar view. On the
other hand, very real (and often hyped) advances really do happen. When pumps
first came out, they were almost magic, ditto with continuous glucose
monitoring.

~~~
frabcus
My dad died in the mid-1980s from type 1 diabetes, when I was a child.

Literally, because it was hard to take blood samples to monitor glucose and
inject the right amount of insulin.

I'm told that with modern equipment (am guessing the continuous glucose
monitoring you mention) he would almost certainly have survived.

So yes, not all advances like this end up working. But overall, within our
short lifetimes, the best ones are creating substantial improvements.

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dnautics
one thing to worry about - insulin cross-reacts with the IGF receptor and
insulin is a mild carcinogen; but insulin variants and insulin reformulations
can be extremely potent carcinogens. Presumably they did IGF cross-reaction
studies, but the post-digestive tract form might have different properties
even, and before getting too excited, I'd want to wait for results from a
longitudinal study in the clinic.

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discardorama
Here's the link to paper, if someone wants to take a gander:
[http://pubs.acs.org/doi/abs/10.1021/bm401580k?journalCode=bo...](http://pubs.acs.org/doi/abs/10.1021/bm401580k?journalCode=bomaf6)

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alphakappa
The Indian media is a bit breathless in declaring that this is the first time
an insulin pill has been developed, but that doesn't seem to be the case [1].
Not to take anything away from new research, but I wish these discoveries were
reported with some moderation because there's a long way between a discovery
and a pill that can actually be sold.

1\. [http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/10/09/us-novonordisk-
ora...](http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/10/09/us-novonordisk-oramed-
oralinsulin-idUSBRE99804N20131009)

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kirtijthorat
Now all that they need is to get it FDA approved to market in the US market.
We need a sure shot remedy for diabetes which is alternatively known as "The
Plague of Our Time" Read this article:
[http://blog.seattlepi.com/timigustafsonrd/2012/02/28/obesity...](http://blog.seattlepi.com/timigustafsonrd/2012/02/28/obesity-
and-diabetes-%E2%80%93-the-plague-of-our-time/)

~~~
penguindev
We already have one for type-2. Don't eat carbs.

Really, if you have an intolerance to something... why are you still eating
it?

~~~
groovy2shoes
Not sure why you're being downvoted. This is a perfectly valid approach to
managing type 2 diabetes.

My mother is a type 2 diabetic and has been on a diet in which she consumes
less than 30 grams of carbohydrates every day. To put that in perspective, the
recommended daily consumption of carbohydrates is about 300 grams. The vast
majority of American adults consume more (sometimes much more).

She cannot eat bread, pasta, fruit, potatoes, or even carrots, among other
things. Surprisingly, some forms of sugar substitutes can also raise blood
glucose levels. But she _can_ eat many kinds of vegetables, meat, eggs, and
dairy products. Just no sugar, and no carbs.

The diet has been very successful. She barely needs insulin anymore, and she's
at the lowest A1C level she's ever had -- even lower than when she was taking
lots of insulin. As a bonus, she's returned to a healthy weight.

~~~
penguindev
That's outstanding. I wonder if her doctor recommended that or she found out
herself? A lot more doctors need to get educated ... or at least less
indoctrinated by the drug companies.

I've lost 30lbs myself in the last year being on a low carb high fat diet
[with no exercise whatever]. It's miraculous. Diabetes and alzheimers run in
my family, so I'm fairly certain I'll never eat bread/pasta/chips again.

~~~
groovy2shoes
It's just something she decided to do. Her doctor was more than happy to just
keep pumping her full of insulin. But as it turns out, diabetics can be
successful avoiding carbohydrates the same way lactose intolerants are
successful avoiding dairy and people with peanut allergies are successful
avoiding peanuts. It just makes sense, really.

