Israel scientists hold trial on first ever insulin pill for Diabetes patients

International News Apr - 01 - 2014 , 09:58

Doctors who treat diabetes have made a breakthrough by developing insulin in the form of a tablet. At present, many diabetics have to treat their illness with an insulin injection up to three times a day.

Around a million people in Britain are thought to need insulin injections for a day to survive.

The new insulin pill - the first ever - has been developed by doctors and scientists in the U.S. and Israel. Trials are already under way and results so far show that the tablet works well at delivering insulin into the bloodstream.

Scientists have been trying for years to develop an insulin pill for diabetes, ever since the discovery of the hormone by Canadian doctors, Banting and Best, 80 years ago.

The major stumbling block has been the fact that insulin is easily destroyed by digestive juices in the stomach before it can get into the bloodstream.

Now experts have been able to coat tablets with a special molecule which allows the insulin to safely penetrate the wall of the intestine and enter the bloodstream.

Trials of the pill are taking place in Israel and Holland, and doctors are hopeful the pill will become available in about three years.

'We are absolutely delighted to have got this far,' says Dr Miriam Kidron of Jerusalem's Hadassah University Hospital, who is leading the research.

'So many people have been trying to produce an insulin pill. It looks as if we have finally achieved that goal.'

Initially, the pill is being tested on patients with type-two diabetes, the form of the disease which affects most people and is mainly caused through poor diet and obesity.

A Type-two diabetic has a pancreas which continues to make insulin and control the disease, as long as the diabetic takes drugs and restricts his diet. But around a third of this group have to go on to insulin injections.

Doctors eventually hope to begin trials using the insulin tablet on patients who suffer from type-one diabetes, which normally occurs in childhood or adolescence. A type-one diabetic is totally reliant on insulin because their pancreas has stopped working.

The new pill has been developed by a small New York pharmaceutical firm called Emisphere Technologies.

'We are very excited by the trials,' says a spokesman. 'At present there is no alternative way of taking insulin. Other companies have been working on nasal and mouth sprays but, as yet, they have failed to produce results.

'We are very cautious, but the trial on the first volunteers proved that the insulin got into the bloodstream and started raising insulin levels.'
If the pill is successful, it could overcome many of the complications suffered by diabetics on insulin injections.

These include a greater risk of heart attack and stroke, kidney damage and the risk of blindness.

'The beauty of this pill is that it mimics the natural production of insulin by delivering insulin to the liver,' says Dr Kidron. 'If you inject insulin, it goes straight into the bloodstream, bypassing the liver which also needs insulin.

'Popping a tablet will be far easier and will end the problem of some diabetics not always injecting when they should.'

Organisations representing diabetics have welcomed the breakthrough.

'The developments are exciting, but we have to be cautious and await the results of more trials,' says a spokesman for Diabetes UK.

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