In a bit of an ironic scientific breakthrough, Norwegian researchers have developed a way to treat diabetes via a delivery device that may have caused it in the first place: candy.
Researchers from The Arctic University of Norway have found a way to let diabetic patients take their insulin orally — negating the usual needles or IV pump — and say that medicine could even be taken in a tasty chocolate.
And apart from the flavor, the scientists say this delivery method is actually more effective than traditional treatments. “When you take insulin with a syringe, it is spread throughout the body where it can cause unwanted side effects,” researcher Peter McCourt explains in a university release.
“This [new] way of taking insulin is more precise because it delivers the insulin rapidly to the areas of the body that need it most,” he continued.
A special coating the scientists developed not only protects the medicine from the digestive system, it also only releases the medicine when an enzyme in the liver signals a patient’s blood sugar has gotten too high.
Regular injections can’t do that and can sometimes crater a patient’s blood sugar, triggering hypoglycemia.