Spray could shed kilos

SQUIRTING insulin up the nose every day could help to combat weight gain.

Tests suggest that regularly spraying small doses into the nostrils can suppress the appetite and trigger weight loss.

Insulin is best known as a treatment for diabetes, where patients inject it into their bloodstream as their body produces too little of the hormone to turn sugar in the blood into a source of energy.

But scientists think the nose spray could benefit overweight people without diabetes because insulin also sends signals to the brain that the stomach is full, reducing appetite.

A trial is under way at the University of Birmingham to see if inhaling a mist containing the hormone can speed up weight loss.

The Birmingham trial was set up after studies elsewhere suggested that inhaled insulin could be a relatively cheap and safe way to reduce appetite.

Although larger doses of injected insulin taken for type 1 diabetes can stimulate weight gain, it’s thought much smaller inhaled doses have the opposite effect.

Dr David Haslam, clinical adviser to the National Obesity Forum, said he would welcome any new safe and effective weight-loss treatments.

But he warned that success could depend on how discreet the spray devices were, as previous attempts to get patients to use nasal sprays had failed because they were bulky and noisy. – Daily Mail