Why don’t we have insulin in
a pill? Because the stomach digests it
before it gets into the bloodstream. Pharmaceutical companies have long been working to overcome this
barrier, but until now, the little bit that made it into the bloodstream was
insufficient to make a difference. Until
now… maybe, hopefully! Clinical trial
results on a new insulin pill called Intesulin
have just been released showing that it is 60-70% as effective as injected
insulin.…
As an alternative to transplanting islets into the liver, which has limited success because cells tend to die off there, Dr. Camillo Ricordi and his colleagues at the Diabetes Research Institute in Florida are working on a tiny, implantable device that creates a safe haven for islet production elsewhere in the body. I call it a “reverse IUD” because an IUD is implanted specifically as an intrusion, to interrupt the natural course of cell bonding,…
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(aka, getting pinned on the ADA show floor).
Alongside the red ribbon for AIDS and the pink ribbon for breast cancer, diabetes now has its own simply recognizable symbol that you can pin to your lapel to show support and promote awareness. The little circle, brainchild of Kari Rosenfeld of the International Diabetes Foundation (IDF) and her daughter Clare, now stands large as the symbol of “Unite for Diabetes,” a worldwide campaign for a United…
Reader Alert: Visit ADA Chief Scientific and Medical Officer, Dr. Richard Kahn’s blog, for drug industry news and “official” coverage of the conference presentations. For the uncensored and totally unofficial scoop, read on. (Plus note that I didn’t get this posted last night due to a snafu with the Internet connection at my @#$! hotel, which never happens to Mr. Kahn, I’m sure)
Wash, DC, June 9, 2006 — So here I am among the…
In the nine years since becoming a mother, this is perhaps the third time I have boarded an airplane alone. Strange sensations: freedom (!), a sense of consummate neatness, and a nagging notion of having forgotten not something, but everything of any consequence that a mommy like me ought to have along. Slow release…
Spending the trip with David Foster Wallace (noticeable to fans?). Reading about America’s (in particular) captivation with Top Athletes: “they fascinate…