What great news for insulin dependant diabetics! Dr. Daniel Drucker, from Toronto’s Mount Sinai Hospital was the lead author of a study recently published by the journal The Lancet demonstrating that a once-a-week injectable diabetes drug appears to lower blood sugar somewhat better than the same drug injected twice daily. This is fabulous news for those trying to manage Type 2 diabetes. The results of the study have just been released at a scientific meeting in Rome.

The drug, exenatide, was developed as a joint venture between Amylin Pharmaceuticals Inc. and Eli Lilly and Company. It works by increasing the secretion of insulin, the hormone which breaks down sugar, following a meal and it suppresses the release of glucagon, the hormone that helps to stop the liver from overproducing sugar when it is not needed.

In addition to the obvious advantage of taking 1 shot a week instead of 14, exenatide also triggered an average weight loss of 3.5 kilograms. Since most diabetes medications cause weight gain, this is significant. The one disadvantage of a once-a-week shot is that the needle to deliver the medication is large-gauge. This may not be an attractive prospect to everyone. Another potential problem with a once-a-week shot is the propensity to forget to take the medication.

Exenatide has not yet been licensed in Canada. However, the research has produced promising results. The unknown element is the long-term effect of the drug and if exenatide will translate into fewer diabetic complications such as vision loss, kidney problems, nerve damage that can lead to limb amputation, and heart disease.