Lizard spit

[Shamrock, BSN, RN]

Health - Reuters

Lizard Spit Drug Controls Diabetes, Cuts Weight

PARIS (Reuters) - Exenatide, an experimental diabetes drug derived from lizard saliva, not only controls patients' blood sugar levels but also cuts their weight, its developers said on Monday.

Amylin Pharmaceuticals Inc and Eli Lilly and Co released new study findings on the efficacy of exenatide at the 18th Congress of the International Diabetes Federation in Paris.

The drug, derived from the saliva of a lizard known as the Gila monster, is the first in a new class of therapies for type 2, or adult-onset, diabetes and is on track to be submitted for approval by regulators in 2004. Analysts forecast annual sales could top $500 million after three years.

The Gila monster lizard lives in the Arizona desert, only eating about four times a year. Its salivary secretions help prevent a sudden surge in blood sugar levels in response to these infrequent but large meals.

The latest exenatide test involved 155 patients who had failed to reach target glucose levels on established diabetes drugs metformin and sulfonylurea, or a combination of the two.

When researchers added injections of exenatide, 44 percent of patients who completed 24 weeks of treatment achieved glucose level averages within the target range, the companies said.

Patients also lost on average 7.5 pounds.

Amylin CEO, Dan Bradbury, told Reuters that being able to control the blood sugar levels of so many patients who had previously failed therapy was a "pretty exciting result."

The most frequently reported side effect in the study was mild to moderate nausea, which decreased with continued treatment.

the only other side effect reported was split tongue, ssssssssoooo sssssswhat?

[agent]

:) Crazy where they find chemicals for new drugs..

[night owl]

Hey, anything to help diabetics is a good thing, even gilla monster spit! Whodathunk?

[P_RN, ADN, RN]

Aren't they an endangered species?

[agent]

how do they extract the spit?

[Shamrock, BSN, RN]

Originally posted by night owl

Hey, anything to help diabetics is a good thing, even gilla monster spit! Whodathunk?

Makes you wonder what they could do with cow spit, huh night?

[redshiloh]

My question is: who thought "Hey let's see if lizard spit helps!"

[Berta]

It totally amazes me when they come up with stuff like this. Where or who gets the idea to try it is beyond me.

[Audreyfay]

Why not dry St. Bernard spit, or camel's spit. Perhaps we'd grow whiskers then. I wonder what the side effects are? I wonder if it will cause scaley skin. Just think of it....I'm going to take my lizard spit pill. I think I'd rather be 7.5 lbs heavier and on insulin.

[P_RN, ADN, RN]

Well some of us take horse urine.....not such a stretch is it?

[Marie_LPN, RN, LPN, RN]

Of COURSE, lizard spit........lizard saliva is the first thing i think of when i think of modern medicine lol

[Zee_RN, BSN, RN]

Actually, I'm in awe of those people. Who made that leap? When you read the report, you say, "Well, yeah, then maybe this lizard's saliva would help." But I'd have never thought of that on my own. (Of course, my knowledge of the Gila monster is limited..I know it's a reptile, I know it's poisonous and I know it lives in the desert. I'd recognize a photo. There....that's all I know. But now I know about it's spit!)