NEW PILL CAN BEAT DIABETES
Drug could end need for painful daily injections
A NEW wonder drug can “significantly” improve the health of people with Type 2 diabetes, scientists say.
British researchers have shown a simple pill has the power to lower blood sugar and promote weight loss in just three months.
The development is significant as the once-aday tablet could potentially end the need for painful daily insulin injections.
It comes as figures show that the diabetes epidemic gripping the UK costs the NHS more than £10billion a year with a new diagnosis made every two minutes.
Trials showed up to 90 per cent of patients receiving semaglutide saw blood glucose levels fall and experienced “meaningful” weight loss.
Study leader Melanie Davies, Professor of Diabetes Medicine at the University of Leicester, called the results “hugely promising”.
She said: “These results demonstrating sema-glutide’s ability to have a significant impact on
lowering blood glucose and support weight loss when taken orally are hugely promising.
“Type 2 diabetes is a serious condition with potentially devastating complications which is posing a major challenge to health services across the world because of the increasing numbers of people developing it.”
Many current Type 2 diabetes treatments come with an increased risk of developing low blood sugar, a condition known as hypoglycaemia, and weight gain.
The new pill, made by the Danish pharmaceutical giant Novo Nordisk, could be available in as little as two years.
Type 2 diabetics either do not produce enough insulin, which lowers blood sugar levels, or the insulin they produce does not work.
The condition is largely lifestyle driven, with nine in 10 sufferers overweight or obese.
The number of adults with the disease has risen by 1.5 million in the past 10 years, with GPs in England now reporting 3.6 million patients aged 17 and older on their records.
Health chiefs now say everyone over 40 should be checked to see if they are at risk, with two million people already offered places on a diet and exercise programme.
Semaglutide is one of a number of relatively new injectable drugs but it can also be taken as a pill.
It works by stimulating insulin production and suppressing the secretion of the blood sugarboosting hormone glucagon as well as lowering appetite.
Trials at the Leicester Diabetes Centre, Europe’s largest diabetes research facility, involved 632 people with Type 2 who either took semaglutide orally or as an injectable or a placebo for 26 weeks.
Research published in the respected journal JAMA showed nine in 10 of those taking 40mg of the drug daily achieved a target blood glucose level of less than seven per cent.
Meanwhile “clinically relevant” weight loss of five per cent [of total body weight] or more was achieved in up to 71 per cent of patients.
Faye Riley, of Diabetes UK, said the pill could increase treatment options for Type 2 diabetics.
She said: “This could be a real benefit to people with the condition but we need further trials to assess its longer-term effects and safety.
“We then need to understand how it works in combination with other Type 2 diabetes medications and whether it will be suitable for everyone with the condition.”