SWEET NEWS Insulin pills spell end of diabetes jabs

Indian Experts Find Way To Get The Hormone Directly Into Bloodstream

London: Daily injections for diabetics could soon be history. Indian scientists have developed insulin pill that can save millions the painful daily shots — a breakthrough medical science has been waiting for since the 1930s. 
    Published in the American Chemical Society journal, the medical advance could someday not only eliminate the "ouch" factor but also get needle-wary patients to take their medicine when they should. 
    For years, it had been a challenge for researchers to transform delivery of insulin therapy from a shot to a pill as the body's digestive enzymes also break down insulin before it can get to work. Now the scientists have found ways to shield insulin from the digestive enzymes and get it into the bloodstream. 
    Sanyog Jain from India's National Institute of Pharmaceutical Education and Research combined two approaches to shield insulin from the digestive enzymes and then get it into the blood. The team of researchers packaged insulin in tiny sacs made of lipids or fats called liposomes which were wrapped in layers of protective molecules called polyelectrolytes. 
    In order to get these "layersomes" absorbed into the bloodstream, the scientists attached folic acid, a kind of vitamin B that has been shown to help transport liposomes across the intestinal wall into the blood. In rats, the delivery system lowered blood glucose levels almost as much as injected insulin, and more importantly the effects of the "layersomes" lasted longer than that of injected insulin.
    Diabetes inhibits production or use of insulin, a hormone that helps blood glucose get absorbed into cells to give them energy. It's one of India's biggest health challenges. By 2030, the number of diabetics in India is expected to cross the 100 million mark, against 87 million estimated earlier. 
    Type 1 diabetes occurs when the body doesn't produce enough insulin, while in Type 2 diabetes, the body doesn't make produce enough or use insulin very well, causing glucose to remain in the blood. "Oral insulin could make a big difference to the lives of people with diabetes. Children, elderly people and those with a phobia of needles would benefit particularly if and when insulin capsules become a safe and effective treatment for the condition," said Libby Dowling, Care Advisor at Diabetes UK. 
    "Many people with Type 2 diabetes take tablets. They are not the same as insulin. 
    "The tablets work in different ways to lower blood glucose levels – for example by stimulating the pancreas to produce more insulin, or by helping the body to use the insulin that it does produce more effectively," she said.