A pill that can boost the body's own insulin production may eliminate the daily need for jabs for millions of individuals with diabetes .
The drug is going to be tested on 155 British patients as part of a trial which could transform treatment of the disease.
It is an oral form of Victoza, a medicine which has already been approved for use in diabetes management, which 'turbo-charges' insulin production in the pancreas, the organ which makes the hormone.
However, in its current form, it has to be injected.
Should trials be successful, this may mean many diabetics are freed from the burden of daily injections to make up for the body's inability to make enough insulin.
Diabetes can affect around an 2.6 million people in Britain.
It develops when the pancreas ceases insulin production or its output drops significantly.
The body needs insulin to enable muscle cells absorb glucose from our diets and use it as fuel for energy.
Without the right levels of insulin, glucose levels can build up. This can cause long-term irreversible damage to the kidneys, eyes, nerves, heart and major arteries.
Type 1 diabetes affects 400,000 people in Britain and often starts in childhood. The pill is unlikely to replace daily insulin jabs for these patients, as this form of diabetes often destroys the pancreas beyond repair.
But it could help more than two million others who have Type 2 diabetes, a much more common condition that tends to affect people from middle age onwards.
|
