June 25, 2006

Big Pharma's Guinea Pigs & Nazi Doctor-Type Ethics











As Hippocrates said, "First Do No Harm!"


Scott said...

You are wrong on several counts. Technically speaking, insulin, human growth hormone (known generically as somatropin) and many other biotechnology medicines cannot be considered drugs; they are synthetic versions of actual human hormones, proteins, enzymes or antibodies. These are usually made by splicing genes into fast-growing organisms such as bacteria or yeast using recombinant DNA technology, which then multiply to produce vast quantities of the desired medicine. Because they are derived from living cells, as opposed to smaller, chemical molecules derived from chemical processes, determining bioequivalency is not the same as it is for chemical drugs.

The second point you fail to understand is that type 2 diabetes is caused by the cells in the body's failure to respond properly to insulin (making it a completely different disease than type 1 diabetes, which is an autoimmune condition caused when the body's immune system mistakenly attacks and destroys the insulin producing beta cells). If the cells do not respond correctly to that hormone, giving more of the hormone can do more harm than good because excessive insulin (which does not apply to most type 1 patients) has been proven to cause inflammation of various cells and body's vessels, increasing the risk for heart attack, stroke, edema and other health problems. In fact, most patients with type 2 diabetes suffer from what is known as "hyperinsulinemia" or too much insulin in the bloodstream. Eventually, insulin resistance will cause the beta cells to die of exhaustion, but a simple c-peptide test can determine how much endogenous insulin production is happening.

As a type 1 (immune-mediated) diabetes patient, I find your lack of knowledge on this topic embarrassing as well as offensive.

Paul said...


I think your understanding of type 2 diabetes is incorrect. The jury is very much out of whether or not type 2 diabetes is caused by insulin resistance or beta cell failure.

The concensus seems to be that by the stage that diabetes is diagnosed beta cell failure has occurred and inuslin production is insufficient to overcome insulin resistance where it is present. It should be noted that not all type tow diabetics "suffer" from inuslin resistance.

Standard treatment regimes tend to treat bith the insulin resistance and the inadequate inuslin production. Initially this is through stimulating additional insulin production. If this fails, asit tends to over time, inusin is prescribed.

In many respects insulin works well for type 2 diabetics. It rests the surviving beta cells, and the pancreas retains the ability to turn off its own supply of insulin once normal BG levels have been achieved, thus recuding the chances of hypoglycemia.

I would not underplay the [roblems associated with high levels of circulating inuslin, which can be present in some type 2 diabetics.

Additionally, another feature of type 2 diabetes is the absence of phase 1 insulin secretion.This results in elevated Post Prandial BG levels, and inappropriate hepatic production of glucose which further elevates already high BG levels. Injected insulin can counter both problems.

Your view of type 2 diabeties is far too simplistic. If you were correct all research would be focused on inuslin resistance and patients wouldn't be prescribed with OHA's and insulin, as the majority are.

You have ignored the fact that 80 percent of people with IR aren't dibetic and many never will be.