Thursday, May 22, 2008
There's a medication called salsalate, which is a nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug, and has been used for many years to treat arthritis. It is chemically related to aspirin, but unlike aspirin, it hasn't been recommended for prevention of heart attack and stroke.In a recent publication, Use of Sal...
I was in one of the studies of salsalate, and it definitely worked for me. I had my lowest A1c ever (5.2), and as I recall triglycerides were also down. Even more exciting for me was the fact that my first-phase insulin response was partially restored. Before the salsalate, it was zero.
However, the drug also caused tinnitus and partial deafness, enough that I wouldn't want to try it again at the dosage I took. Both effects disappeared when the study was finished, however. And I understand they're now using lower dosages of the drugs than I used. Also, I'm small, so a dosage that would be OK for a larger person would be too high for me.
We took a second drug (Cytotec) that was supposed to decrease the possibility of gastriculcers from the high dose of the aspirin-type drug.
I'm very interested in this drug and in new versions that might have the beneficial aspects without the side effects. That is also the hope of the researchers.