Resolved Insulin Injections Could Soon To Be Obsolete?

[Alicia]

Insulin Injections Could Soon To Be Obsolete
Z79.4 - Long term (current) use of insulin
During my tenure in Home Health in Texas, a poignant memory lingers of an elderly diabetic couple grappling with the challenges of maintaining independence despite their legal blindness. The intricacies of drawing up their insulin became a formidable hurdle, casting a shadow on their aspirations for self-sufficiency. Home health, while not intended as a long-term solution, found itself as the sole recourse for setting up the necessary syringes, underscoring the poignant reality of their situation. As you can imagine this became an issue.
Embarking on a transformative journey for the 75 million daily insulin injectors worldwide, groundbreaking research in Nature Nanotechnology unveils a paradigm-shifting approach to insulin delivery. Imagine a capsule, minuscule nano-carriers, each narrower than 1/10,000th of a human hair, cradling insulin—an innovation poised to redefine diabetes care. Yet, a formidable hurdle emerges as stomach breakdown threatens to derail this medical breakthrough. Fear not, for researchers have ingeniously crafted a protective shield, guiding insulin through the digestive labyrinth to its crucial destination—the liver. This coating, attuned to soaring blood sugar levels, orchestrates a precisely timed insulin release, echoing the body's natural rhythms. Unlike traditional injections unleashing insulin all at once, this method curtails the peril of hypoglycemia, tailoring release to individual needs. Triumphant trials on nematodes, mice, rats, and baboons set the stage for human clinical exploration in 2025, holding the promise of widespread adoption within the next 2–3 years. Dive deeper into this medical marvel in the referenced article in Nature Nanotechnology.

REFERENCE:

• Hunt NJ, Lockwood GP, Heffernan SJ, Daymond J, Ngu M, Narayanan RK, . . . Cogger VC (2024) Oral nanotherapeutic formulation of insulin with reduced episodes of hypoglycaemia. Nature Nanotechnology. PMID: 38168926. URL: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/38168926 & https://www.nature.com/articles/s41565-023-01565-2.pdf

ABSTRACT: Injectable insulin is an extensively used medication with potential life-threatening hypoglycaemic events. Here we report on insulin-conjugated silver sulfide quantum dots coated with a chitosan/glucose polymer to produce a responsive oral insulin nanoformulation. This formulation is pH responsive, is insoluble in acidic environments and shows increased absorption in human duodenum explants and Caenorhabditis elegans at neutral pH. The formulation is sensitive to glucosidase enzymes to trigger insulin release. It is found that the formulation distributes to the liver in mice and rats after oral administration and promotes a dose-dependent reduction in blood glucose without promoting hypoglycaemia or weight gain in diabetic rodents. Non-diabetic baboons also show a dose-dependent reduction in blood glucose. No biochemical or haematological toxicity or adverse events were observed in mice, rats and non-human primates. The formulation demonstrates the potential to orally control blood glucose without hypoglycaemic episodes.

 

[AmyB_80824]

It amazes me that, with such a widespread health concern as diabetes is, there isn't something like this available already. I'm excited to see what the future holds for insulin-dependent diabetics. This type of insulin could have been an absolute game changer for my dad, who was insulin-dependent for over 20 years and constantly battled hypoglycemia and medication changes.

 

[Alicia]

I remember watching a commercial and the person said something to the effect, In this day and age how come we are still sticking our fingers. Then a few years later we have Freestyle Libre. I remember when insulin pumps came out. It was huge.

You know what it makes me think of? Star Trek and them scanning you with that device. We can "almost" do that with a cell phone or smart watch.

 

[CatherineA_82129]

Wow, this is tremendous news! I didn’t realize that this potential change in treatment - from having to inject insulin to simply taking a capsule - might be happening so soon. This would be such a relief to people with insulin-dependent diabetes. Decreasing the complexity of managing this illness would undoubtedly lead to improved health and quality of life among this population.

 

[Alicia]

Consider the new code that would have to be used as well. We have a code for Long Term Use of Insulin and Non-insulin injectable. They will have to create a code for Oral Insulin. A real example of how medicine and research changes the code set.