Highlights
of New Devices for Diabetes Care Studied and Tested
With
16 million American diabetics, pharmaceutical firms are testing
dozens of new devices, drugs and products to attack the disease
and grab a piece of the market.
Highlights: -An
insulin pill has tantalized scientists for 70 years, but a new
version may finally go where the others failed. Chemical engineers
at Purdue University say they have developed a polymer, or
plastic, to shepherd insulin past the stomach, where digestive
acid normally destroys it.
The polymer in acid
collapses into a tight ball that traps the insulin. In about 30
minutes, the pill reaches the non-acidic intestine, where the
polymer expands to release the insulin.
The pill has worked in
rats and dogs, but so far it has been hard to predict how much
insulin will be absorbed and how fast. Also, at least 85 percent
gets wasted.
-Sprayable insulin
works just like a sore throat spray. The insulin mist is fine
enough to sink in through the lining of the mouth. So far, only 10
to 20 percent gets absorbed, researchers say. A spray called
Oralin is advanced in research but still four years away.
-An insulin patch has
worked in animal testing but less well on humans. The insulin
molecule is long and does not penetrate our skin easily, so
ultrasound waves have been used to make the skin more porous and
able to absorb it. Even so, only a fraction of the insulin makes
it through and the method causes skin side effects.
-Transplants of islet
cells - insulin factories in the pancreas - have freed diabetics
from syringes, but not for long. The body often rejects them, or
the cells die before the transplant. New work at the University of
Miami's Diabetes Research Institute keeps the cells alive for 36
hours before the transplant.
