Slashdot Mirror
New Type2 Diabetes Treatment May Provide A Cure
rusty0101 writes "Over at HealthDay, they have an article noting how a new trial drug for Type2 Diabetes may also help provide a cure to diabetes. Its primary benefit is that it does not have the side effect of causing weight gain; in fact on average people in the trial lost 6.3 lb. Note, this isn't a great way to lose weight, but for many Type 2 diabetics, loosing weight can improve their condition." How comfortable would you be swallowing a drug made from Gila monster spit?
a drug made from Gila monster spit?
No, "it is a synthetic version of the hormone exendin-4, found in the saliva of the Gila monster..."
Saying the drug is made from Gila monster spit is like saying Rogaine (hair growh thing) is made from rat urine...which it isn't. Rogaine is synthetic. The chemical its made from was originally discovered in rat urnie, however.
-grump
Is it true that more people vote for the winner of American Idol, than vote for the president? -Ali G.
"It is a synthetic version of the hormone exendin-4, found in the saliva of the Gila monster"
Im not sure the poster RTFA. You wont have to eat Gila spit to get the cure.
According to Wikipedia:
Who's up for some Jell-O?
I have friends who are in excelent shape, yet are still Type 2 diabetics. Just because the leading cause of Type 2 diabetes is obesity, does not mean that all people who have become type 2 diabetics are overweight.
Type 2 diabeties has killed two uncles and an aunt of mine. So I have a reason to pay attention to the subject, and do what I can to stay healthy.
I do partially agree with you. If you have aquired Type 2 Diabetes as a result of your choice in lifestyle, (over eating mostly) it is your responsibility to do whatever it takes to remedy the cause of your case. If that means get on a healty diet and exercise regime, then do that. No, it won't cure all your ills, but a large percentage of people who do loose weight, and correct their diet have a much more managable situation. At that point this treatment may even cure your condition. This treatment may also help you get to the better situation.
-Rusty
You never know...
Additionally, a lot of people are fat for the same reasons that they develop diabetes. I went from being perfectly fit (multiple sports my entire life hours per day) to obese and borderline diabetic due to a metabolic problem. That problem lead to both the inability to maintain a normal weight *and* the diabetic diagnosis.
I'm doing all I can to reverse things before it's too late. But it's definitely a stupid thing to claim that you only get diabetes because you're fat. Sometimes that's true, but often being overweight is part of the symptom and not the cause.
Type II diabetes can be treated with drugs that increase insulin release (sulfonylureas such as glyburide), drugs that reduce insulin resistance (the biguanide metformin and the new thiazolidinediones* such as rosiglitazone), and drugs that slow the breakdown of carbohydrates (acarbose).
The drugs that increase insulin release can be very effective at first, but tend to become less so. These are the ones associated with weight gain. They also can cause hypoglycemia which can be dangerous.
Metformin is old, cheap (generic), effective, and safe(r). It actually can cause some weight loss, and its main disadvantage is that it often causes dose-related diarrhea.
Rosiglitazone is new, expensive, and very effective, though it can sometimes affect the liver. It causes some weight gain, but this is due to increased plasma volume (fluid retention).
Acarbose has fairly modest benefits, but can be effective in people who get high glucose levels after a meal, but have low fasting levels, since it smooths out the spike in blood sugar.
In Type II diabetics, the beta cells usually work overtime to produce enough insulin to have an effect on the resistant tissues and eventually fail - advanced cases may require insulin injections. If this drug does stimulate beta-cell division, it might delay or prevent this eventual impairment.
*OK, I admit, I had to check the spelling on that.
Still, even in Type 2, another treatment would be useful. Incidentally, metformin doesn't cause weight gain either, but exenatide would be useful if metformin fails or is not tolerable by the patient.
An unfourtunatly large amount of people. There's a surprising amount out there who live in a near state of denial about their illness. I worked in a pharmacy for a while, and we would constantly see people skipping doses because they didn't feel like taking it that morning, or even refusing to get refills of generics because the pills were "the wrong color". A large amount of the time when questioned they would state that they "were healthy people" who were the exception to the rule of whatever they had. It was only everyone else who would get worse without consistant treatment. And these were usually people on pretty significant things, such as cardiac treatment!
WebMD has an article about "pharmazooticals" here. The gila monster drug makes an appearance.
Sincerely yours,
Jeffrey Boulier