SUFFERERS from type-2 diabetes soon may be treating their ailment by chewing gum.
A Toronto company says it is testing a chewing gum containing the glucose-controlling drug metformin which is presently prescribed in tablets for many type-2 diabetes patients, but is unpopular because of gastrointestinal side-effects, bitter taste and the size of the pills.
The side-effects were especially off-putting to the increasing number of children diagnosed with type-2, according to the Generex Biotechnology Corporation of Toronto, Canada.
The chewing-gum product, called MetControl, would be given to 36 volunteer patients to test its speed and efficacy compared with that of immediate-release metformin pills.
It believed that delivery of metformin in good-tasting chewing gum would make it more acceptable to these patients and thereby increase adherence with diabetes therapy.
Generex Biotechnology's flagship product is an oral insulin taken through the inner lining of the mouth instead of by injection.
Oral-lyn, had been accepted in Ecuador and India and was being trialled in other countries including the United States, Canada and Russia.
http://www.news.com.au/story/0,23599,23717864-1702,00.html
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