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Thursday, March 26, 2009 Massagemaniac asks

Q: Oral Insulin (by the mouth) - would it be a better option ?

What do you think about the new forms of insulin on the horizon -- Ora-lyn and Oramed ? One gets delivered into the mouth before mealtime. The other is insulin in a capsule.  Would it be easier and more acceptable to take this these types of insulin, instead of injection?

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3/30/09 4:43pm

i hate to be pessimistic, but these may not work well- why do i say this?- well, we've had inhaled insulin on the market 2+ years- how many people do you know that are taking it?- maybe it's too expensive, but i suspect the real issue is that inhaled doesn't work as well as da needle- this is because of the variability in absorption between you, someone healthy, and me, who smokes 3.7 packs of marlboros per shift- so when we talk of pill insulin, there are even more variables in absorption- the intriguing analogy here is the old school insulin- pig/cow insulin used to be used by everyone, but had wild variability in batches and potency- this is the main reason why there was real historical fear with insulin- one batch might work fine, while the next could bottom you out- so i predict that PO insulin will have limited use, due to too many fluctuations in dosing to make an effective regimen

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