Thursday, February 14, 2019

Insulin Pill?

According to Science Daily, an MIT-led research team developed a drug capsule, that can deliver oral insulin instead of injecting insulin to treat patients with type II diabetes. The capsule is said to be the size of a blueberry, which contains a small needle, made of compressed insulin, which is injected after the capsule reached the stomach. Tested on animals, researchers showed that the pill could deliver enough insulin to lower blood sugar as much as the injections given through skin.

Having been developed before, the pill has been modified to contain one needle, which is made of nearly 100% compressed, freeze dried insulin. The way it works is; when the capsule is swallowed, water in the stomach would dissolve the sugar disk, releasing the spring and injecting the needle into the stomach wall. The stomach wall has no pain receptors, therefore patients would not feel the injection. The needle orients itself, where no matter the position, it will target the stomach wall. Once the top of the needle is injected into the stomach wall, insulin dissolves at a controlled rate and is then released into the bloodstream.



This is a very important topic, many people suffer from diabetes. However type II diabetes is often hereditary and non-preventable, and surviving with injections everyday is tough. With this new insulin pill, we can help many people battle type II diabetes and make it easier to manage. I hope that they will do further research and allow this "pill form" insulin to be promoted for pharmaceutical use. 


4 comments:

  1. This is really neat but I am a bit skeptical. I wonder if with prolonged usage the needles would cause damage to the stomach, or if they could increase the risk of infection. This needle would then have to pass through the colon and eventually the anus where a tear in the tissue could cause catastrophic complications.

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  2. Several things are brought to my attention from this article, but the main thing that peaks my curiosity is how long this whole process takes. I personally would much rather take a pill if needed than stabbing myself with a needle, but for some people they need insulin quickly, so could this really replace the injections?

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  3. This was a great article to read as I can relate to having to give myself insulin, I was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes when I was 15. Type 2 diabetes, in my opinion, has less to do with genetics and more to do with lifestyle and eating habits. I know that Type 1 is an autoimmune disease, and can be hereditary. I think this is a great idea for a "good diabetic" that controls their diets to a T, and is on top of their blood sugar levels. For a diabetic that is not well versed in their glucose levels, I think this pill would take too long to deliver the insulin.

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  4. I found this article to be interesting because I have friends and family members that have to use a needle to inject insulin. I personally think that a pill form of insulin would be better than using a needle to inject insulin, especially if it performs the same job and is less harmful to the body.

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