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New pill can deliver insulin

news.mit.edu

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Re: New pill can deliver insulin

#11

Post by bitexploder »

samcday wrote: post #4

> Once ingested, water dissolves a disk of sugar, using a spring to release a tiny needle made up almost entirely of freeze-dried insulin. The needle is injected into the stomach — which the patient can’t feel, owing to a lack of pain receptors in the stomach. Once the injection has occurred, the needle can break down in the digestive tract. That's some pretty impressive ingenuity. Also sounds kinda terrifying if the…

I test my insulin willingly with no diabetes. One hard squat hurts way more Than either of those activities. I have actually teared up from hard lifts. Needles are just a nuisance. The real downside to beetus is having to think about it constantly, IMO. (And managing it for kids, who don’t have perspective on blood/needles)

Re: New pill can deliver insulin

#13

Post by sdfj3423 »

throwitaway6512 wrote: post #8
sithlord wrote: post #3

Study by Novo Nordisk. one of the fine companies responsible for raising insulin prices by thousands of percent.

Read up on the matter. The culprits are pharmacy benefits managers who push producers to increase list prices while demanding obscene rebates that are never passed on to the consumers. Most producers don’t disclaim the rebates, but Lars Fruegaard (Novos CEO) is on record saying that it increased from 64% to 67% last year. So pharmacy benefits managers are pushing up the list price but less and less is getting through…

>Read up on the matter.

Slightly off-topic, but could you talk about what pharmacy benefits managers are supposed to do and actually do, for insulin especially, and their effect on the market?

I Googled this term but can't make of sense of your comment based on what I've read. (The definitions of pharmacy benefits managers that I found have nothing to do with what you wrote.)

Re: New pill can deliver insulin

#14

Post by ironrabbit »

I know we're a little ways off, but this seems like a great platform to combine with automatic blood sugar measurement. Imagine taking one pill in the morning that measures your blood sugar and internally administers insulin as necessary. There are already externally attached pumps that do both (my father, a type 1 diabetic, uses one) but having an electronic device permanently attached to your stomach is a bit of a hassle.

Re: New pill can deliver insulin

#16

Post by RPLong »

samcday wrote: post #4

> Once ingested, water dissolves a disk of sugar, using a spring to release a tiny needle made up almost entirely of freeze-dried insulin. The needle is injected into the stomach — which the patient can’t feel, owing to a lack of pain receptors in the stomach. Once the injection has occurred, the needle can break down in the digestive tract. That's some pretty impressive ingenuity. Also sounds kinda terrifying if the…

What doctors and researchers get wrong about diabetes is that pin-pricks and injections are not even remotely bad. I don't know a single diabetic who cares about injections and blood sugar tests. You get used to that within the first week of diagnosis.

No, the unpleasant part of being diabetic is having to live every second of your life as an act of weighing how what you're currently doing is going to affect your blood sugar levels an hour for now:

- Have I been sitting in this chair too long? - Have I not been sitting down enough this morning? - Have I been drinking enough water? - Did I just drink too much water? - I haven't been to the bathroom in two hours; does this mean I'm screwed? - If I eat a piece of toast after dinner, will I be able to have sex with my wife without going hypoglycemic? - I'd like to go hiking, but it's hot outside and my insulin might spoil, so maybe I'll walk around the block instead. - I just plan on going to the grocery store for 20 minutes; do I need to bring insulin in case there's a traffic jam on the way home?

Etc., etc. Pharmaceutical companies can't solve the real lifestyle problems associated with diabetes short of inventing an actual cure.

Re: New pill can deliver insulin

#18

Post by RPLong »

sithlord wrote: post #3

Study by Novo Nordisk. one of the fine companies responsible for raising insulin prices by thousands of percent.

Jesus man. Novo has invented and produced more insulin in the last 30 years than any other company or organization. I get that you're disgruntled about the price of insulin; I am, too. But put the blame where it belongs, not on the people who are producing more and more insulin to accommodate more and more diabetic lifestyles and helping to drive the price down rather than up.

Re: New pill can deliver insulin

#19

Post by vonmoltke »

m3nu wrote: post #17

For the case of T2D, eating fewer carbs may be more effective than later reducing it with expensive insulin and fancy MIT pills. I often hear good stuff about these guys: https://www.virtahealth.com/ (no affiliation) edit: clarify that Virta is treating T2D primarily.

Eating fewer carbs is completely ineffective when your pancreas is not producing insulin in the first place.

Re: New pill can deliver insulin

#20

Post by sithlord »

throwitaway6512 wrote: post #8
sithlord wrote: post #3

Study by Novo Nordisk. one of the fine companies responsible for raising insulin prices by thousands of percent.

Read up on the matter. The culprits are pharmacy benefits managers who push producers to increase list prices while demanding obscene rebates that are never passed on to the consumers. Most producers don’t disclaim the rebates, but Lars Fruegaard (Novos CEO) is on record saying that it increased from 64% to 67% last year. So pharmacy benefits managers are pushing up the list price but less and less is getting through…

Although I appreciate the $25/vial insulin sold at walmart, its unfortunate that its such an old-school version that that it makes it almost dangerous to try and manage diabetes with it *obviously better than nothing though.

I know, before insurance, it costs around $240 a vial, and I know personally I go through roughly 3 vials a month. I would guess I use a lot less insulin than a lot of others too.

So I know the manufacturer isn't the only one to blame, and maybe its unfair to completely blame them, but as much as the manufacturers are donating to politicians I cant imagine they are doing a lot to fight it either.

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