Why cant Childhood Diabetes be treated with oral pills.

Giving injection to your own child can be one of the most traumatic experiences a parent can have.

Children's with insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus or childhood diabetes( Type-1 Diabetes)require regular insulin injections. More commonly they need to be injected insulin four times a day and understandably this aspect of diabetes is the most painful one for the child as well as the parents. Add to it regular blood sugar testing that we have to do to estimate the dose requirement and blood glucose control and in this makes for a terrible number of pricks a child is getting day in and day out. No wonder every parent wants their child to be freed from these injections and daily pain.


Modern technology has given us insulin pens and micro fine needles that make injecting insulin less painful; still an injection is an injection. Although technology has helped us reduce the pain child feels at every injection, nothing can reduce the pain a parent feels while the injecting their child or seeing the child get that injection. So the parents of these children very commonly ask me in clinics whether their child can stop injections, or till when will he require injections or isn't there an oral treatment like a tablet or oral insulin .

"Doctor, Someone told us Diabetes can be cured with tablets"

Whereas it is possible to manage blood sugars in the initial stages of type 2 diabetes with oral medication , it is unfortunately not possible for type 1 diabetes.

"But WHY...."

   

Childhood Diabetes happens when the body stops producing insulin. This is because the Beta cells in the pancreas are depleted(To understand what is Diabetes read my post here). To understand why children get Diabetes read the post here) . In the absence of Insulin we cannot survive. Thinking in a logical manner, there are two ways we can manage this problem. Either we can repair the pancreas cells that produce insulin so that they can restart making insulin , or we can replace the finished product, that is insulin.


Till date, scientists have been trying hard to repair/transplant the insulin producing cells in the body but we have achieved very limited success. The only reliable and safe treatment to this date is replacing the finished product, Insulin. The insulin we administer via injections is a factory made copy of the true human insulin (known as recombinant insulin) with certain modifications which make its action more patient friendly. So that answers the question as to why insulin is the only treatment available at present. There are no tablets containing any other medicines as there is NO OTHER MEDICINE presently approved for Childhood Diabetes.

 "And why cant we put insulin in a tablet or capsule and take it orally? That could free our children from injections! "

Insulin is a type of protein. We all know that protiens are a part of many foods . Our digestive system is designed to digest protiens. So if we take insulin orally, our body's digestive system will think it to be a food and digest it . the protein molecule will be broken down and become ineffective.

Active research is pursuing ways to make insulin bypass the digestive system ( oral or nasal route) and we may get breakthroughs in future. Until then Insulin Injections are the only way we can keep our young fighters healthy and happy. 

I wish the pain goes away soon.. and let me tell you, there are many like me who wish the same and are researching day and night to find a solution.  Till the time we find one, may God give strength to these little mighty warriors who defeat diabetes four times a day.....