Fighting Type 2 Diabetes

BOSTON (Ivanhoe Broadcast News) -- Nearly 21 million people in the United States are living with diabetes, and as many as 95 percent of diabetics have type 2 diabetes. Treating it has been a tough challenge for doctors. There are lots of drugs to help control blood sugar levels but none target the cause.

"None of the currently available medications are perfect, and one of the biggest problems we have with the current medications is they don't really treat the basic problem," Steven Shoelson, M.D., Ph.D., a diabetes researcher at Joslin Diabetes Center in Boston, tells Ivanhoe.

But Dr. Shoelson says the drug salsalate could change that. It's an anti-inflammatory drug for arthritis that's been around since the 1800s. "It's strange that we are using a drug that has been around for a long time to treat a disease that has been around for a long time," he says.

New research shows a protein that triggers inflammation is turned on in overweight people. The inflammation leads to insulin resistance and type 2 diabetes. Salsalate shuts off that protein.

"We think getting at the cause may have beneficial effects that we have not even anticipated," Dr. Shoelson says. An early study shows the drug significantly improves blood sugar levels. "The people who got no drug at all had absolutely no change in their blood sugars."

The drug also lowers triglyceride levels, and Dr. Shoelson says it may reduce heart disease risk as well.

Jerry Silva was in that early study and saw his blood sugars drop. "I tend to be the kind of person who does not like to take medications if I don't have to," he says. But since the study ended, he's lost 20 pounds. Instead of drugs, he now controls his diabetes with diet and exercise. "If I cannot walk around anymore or if my body stops responding positively to natural ways of reducing it; this is something I would definitely consider taking."

A large study is now underway to find out how much impact this drug will have. Researchers are currently recruiting patients at 16 sites across the country. For a list of participating sites, click here.

This article was reported by Ivanhoe.com, who offers Medical Alerts by e-mail every day of the week. To subscribe, go to: http://www.ivanhoe.com/newsalert/.

If you would like more information, please contact:

Steven Shoelson, M.D.
Diabetes Researcher
Joslin Diabetes Center
Boston, MA 02215

TINSAL-T2D (Targeting INflammation with SALsalate in Type 2 Diabetes)
tinsal-t2d@biostat.bsc.gwu.edu