Will The Future Be Needle-Free For Diabetics?

The American Diabetes Association reports that 26 million Americans are living with diabetes and of that number, 4.9 million are Black. That’s 18.7 percent. Yet, for many Black diabetics, one of the most dreaded aspects of managing their condition is not only being able to afford treatment but also the stigma of injecting insulin by needle multiple times a day. Fortunately, Harvard researchers have discovered a way to deliver insulin in a pill, and it appears to work well.

A lot of questions remain: What is the proper dose compared to injected insulin? Will it be delivered uniformly? And, the biggest, will it work well for people, too?

That’s why more research is needed, said the study’s senior author, Samir Mitragotri, a professor of bioengineering at Harvard University.

“What we have shown is that we can deliver insulin and that it is safe in the intestine. This would be a non-invasive, patient-friendly, easy-to-use treatment,” he said.

Insulin is a hormone that helps

The American Diabetes Association reports that 26 million Americans are living with diabetes and of that number, 4.9 million are Black. That’s 18.7 percent. Yet, for many Black diabetics, one of the most dreaded aspects of managing their condition is not only being able to afford treatment but also the stigma of injecting insulin by needle multiple times a day. Fortunately, Harvard researchers have discovered a way to deliver insulin in a pill, and it appears to work well.

A lot of questions remain: What is the proper dose compared to injected insulin? Will it be delivered uniformly? And, the biggest, will it work well for people, too?

That’s why more research is needed, said the study’s senior author, Samir Mitragotri, a professor of bioengineering at Harvard University.

“What we have shown is that we can deliver insulin and that it is safe in the intestine. This would be a non-invasive, patient-friendly, easy-to-use treatment,” he said.

Insulin is a hormone that helps