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New pill can deliver insulin

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Re: New pill can deliver insulin

#31

Post by coldpie »

helsinki wrote: post #22
RPLong wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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 blo…

T1 here. This is a perfect summary. I received my Dexcom G6 yesterday. If you dont have a CGM and insulin pump, I highly recommend both.

Grats on the Dexcom. It's a game changer. I don't use a pump myself for a variety of reasons (chiefly, my current routine is working well, no reason to change it), but I dearly miss the Dexcom when I have to go without for some reason.

Re: New pill can deliver insulin

#32

Post by bem94 »

Depending on what I eat, I need different ammounts of insulin, and adjust the dose acordingly using my insulin pen and needle.

How does one adjust the dose in a pill? Do I take more or fewer pills?

They mention the insulin is "freeze dried". What does this mean in practice? Do I need to carry around a climate controlled box with my insulin in?

Re: New pill can deliver insulin

#33

Post by billfruit »

bem94 wrote: post #32

Depending on what I eat, I need different ammounts of insulin, and adjust the dose acordingly using my insulin pen and needle. How does one adjust the dose in a pill? Do I take more or fewer pills? They mention the insulin is "freeze dried". What does this mean in practice? Do I need to carry around a climate controlled box with my insulin in?

Freeze dried foods usually remain stable at room temperature and do not require refrigeration/heating once freeze drying is completed.

Re: New pill can deliver insulin

#34

Post by coldpie »

RPLong wrote: post #16
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 blo…

Yeah. I've been T1D since I was 13 (now 30) and I can't even imagine what it's like to live without it. It's literally a constant thread in my mind, every waking moment, and a few times a week while I sleep. I carry glucose tablets and a few granola bars on me, and you're right about carrying insulin. Am I likely to eat on this trip, or can I leave it at home so it doesn't spoil?

I once failed to bring my insulin on an international trip. That was a doozy!

Making injections easier would be nice, sure. Not having to worry about finding a bathroom or bleeding into my pants or whatever. But that's a real minor set of issues compared to the constant attentiveness that managing it well requires.

Re: New pill can deliver insulin

#35

Post by m3nu »

vonmoltke wrote: post #19
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.

I was talking about type 2 diabetes, not type 1. You're of course correct regarding type 1.

Re: New pill can deliver insulin

#36

Post by jonlucc »

sithlord wrote: post #24
RPLong wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

Per a quick google <15% of type 2 diabetics use insulin. I would say this effects more type 1 diabetics than anything. Or are you trying to say peoples lifestyles are leading them to an autoimmune disease?

Both T1D and T2D are increasing year-over-year. Also, 90-95% of diabetics in the US have T2D, so the 15% of T2D patients on insulin is still 13.5-14.25% of all diabetics. We already know that 76.5-80.75% of all diabetics aren't using insulin, because they're non-insulin using T2D patients.

In other words, more T2D patients take insulin than exist in all of the T1D population.

Re: New pill can deliver insulin

#37

Post by naiyt »

bitexploder wrote: post #11
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)

> The real downside to beetus is having to think about it constantly, IMO

Pretty much this. Obviously needles and finger pricks are a bigger deal for some people, but most diabetics get used to it fairly quickly. The hard part is the constant mental drain of having to be your own pancreas. It's like you're constantly flying a plane where you have to manually maintain a certain altitude, because you'll crash and die if you fly too low or too high. It's exhausting.

Re: New pill can deliver insulin

#38

Post by bobochan »

bem94 wrote: post #32

Depending on what I eat, I need different ammounts of insulin, and adjust the dose acordingly using my insulin pen and needle. How does one adjust the dose in a pill? Do I take more or fewer pills? They mention the insulin is "freeze dried". What does this mean in practice? Do I need to carry around a climate controlled box with my insulin in?

People that are pancreatic insufficient take replacement enzymes in capsule form and the dose is based on their size and the amount of fat in the meal that they are eating. There is a learning curve when they start but they get pretty adept at guessing how many capsules to take.

Re: New pill can deliver insulin

#39

Post by GiorgioG »

RPLong wrote: post #23
helsinki wrote: post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

T1 here. This is a perfect summary. I received my Dexcom G6 yesterday. If you dont have a CGM and insulin pump, I highly recommend both.

One thing I'm worried about WRT switching to a pump is the impact of heat on insulin. I can't have a Humalog pen exposed to 80+ degree heat for more than a few minutes without it losing efficacy. I live in Texas. What will stop the summer heat from cooking all the insulin in my pump's reservoir while I'm walking down the street? Do you have any thoughts on this? I'd love to have more flexibility.

Our 7 year old lays on top of his pump regularly when he sleeps and despite it making the entire pump way hotter than 80 degrees, it’s never caused any efficacy issues. He’s played soccer for 3+ hours in the 95+ degree heat (4 days in a row), no problems with the insulin on board.

Re: New pill can deliver insulin

#40

Post by detaro »

RPLong wrote: post #16
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 blo…

From what I've seen with friends, CGMs seemed to be a pretty big lifestyle improvement through technology.
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