Over the years, I actually have written and edited many articles for medical journals. I actually have to say that I find it a bit strange to be on the flip side because it is now. topic of 1 such article (together with 285 others). Just a few years ago, I volunteered to participate in a clinical trial testing whether an old, aspirin-like drug called salicylate could help control blood sugar in individuals with type 2 diabetes. The results of this trial, Called TINSAL-T2D.is reported in the present issue of History of Internal Medicine.
All 286 volunteers got blue pills to take day-after-day for a few 12 months. Half of us received tablets containing salicylate. Others received placebo pills. During the trial, people within the Silslate group had lower blood sugar levels, and a few were even able to scale back the dose of other diabetes medications they were taking.
Inflammation and diabetes
Salicylate is an older drug closely related to aspirin. The use of those drugs and their natural precursors may occur. Traced back at least 3,500 years. Today salicylate is used to treat arthritis pain. One of its benefits over aspirin and other non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs is that it doesn't irritate the digestive tract.
No one knows how salicylate helps control blood sugar. But its effectiveness supports this concept. Inflammation plays a role in type 2 diabetes.. In addition to improving blood sugar control, salicylate reduced the variety of white blood cells involved in inflammation. It also increased levels of adiponectin, a potentially heart-protective protein produced by fat cells.
Not ready for prime time.
The results of TINSAL-T2D are promising. Salicylate helps lower blood sugar. It has safety profile. It has been used for other purposes through the years. And it is comparatively low-cost. But it's going to soon not be really useful for individuals with type 2 diabetes.
Three safety blips appeared through the trial. 1) Silslate participants lost a mean of two kilos through the trial, while placebo participants lost about one pound. Over time, extra weight can result in poor blood sugar control. 2) Unhealthy LDL cholesterol increased by about 10 points within the salicylate group, compared with no change within the placebo group. 3) The salicylate group had the next amount of protein called albumin within the urine. This is usually a sign of doubtless serious changes within the kidneys.
What we really want to learn about a latest or reformulated drug is how its long-term advantages and risks stack up against one another. The relatively short length of the TINSAL-T2D trial and the relatively small variety of volunteers don't provide sufficient information. According to the researchers, more work is required before widespread use of salicylate may be really useful for individuals with type 2 diabetes.
Some of this work is already underway. gave TINSAL-CVD study Examining the consequences of salicylate on cholesterol-laden plaque in coronary arteries. (Heart disease is the leading explanation for death in individuals with type 2 diabetes.) If the study shows that salicylate reduces the expansion or spread of plaque, the FDA would “provide new indications.” “A larger and longer outcome study is needed before the use of Silslate for the management of pain in patients with arthritis goes beyond its current indications,” said Dr. Goldfine.
A private note
I never knew if I used to be taking Silslate or a placebo. It didn't really matter. But I got lots out of participating in TINSAL-T2D. I received excellent diabetes care from a dedicated diabetes specialist (Dr. Goldfine) and trial coordinator (Kathy Foster). I experienced first-hand among the tests I've written about often. I discovered that I actually have what known as late-onset type 1 diabetes. Latent autoimmune diabetes of the adultInstead of type 2 diabetes. And it's nice to take part in medical research, not only write about it.
Volunteers are needed for hundreds of clinical trials. If you're all for participating in a single, have a look. ClinicalTrials.govPut together by the National Institutes of Health. It lists about 70,000 clinical trials now underway within the United States.