STUMBLE UPON

Will Pfizer's Insulin Inhaler Be Another Drug Debacle?

Pfizer has developed a diabetes treatment called Exubera, which is the first that allows diabetics to inhale insulin as a powder, rather than inject it in liquid form. But some worry that it could be hard to use, or that it could cause lung damage. Pfizer executives predicted that Exubera would bring in $2 billion a year in sales, but increasing distrust of the treatment among patients and physicians could result in that being a vast overestimate.
Pfizer is searching for a new "blockbuster" drug now that Lipitor faces competition from generic drugs and Zoloft has lost its patent protection.Some patients in clinical trials of Exubera suffered lung problems, and it is not recommended for patients who perform poorly on a lung-function test. Those who take the drug need to have their lungs tested periodically. The list price is also significantly higher than that of injected insulin, and its large size (about that of a can of tennis balls) and fixed dosage may make patients wary of using it.

Business Week July 16, 2006
Popular Science November 2005

Dr. Mercola's Comment:
I recently warned you about four new diabetes drugs in the pipeline, each projected to make more than $1 billion. But one of those drugs, Pfizer's Exubera, probably won't hit its projected sales mark, and that's a good thing too.
Unless you are a physician you would not likely realize that Pfizer is spending big dollars to promote this drug, as it is hitting most of the major medical journals. So there is a major push to promote this drug.
Exubera has nothing to do with better health or treating the underlying problems associated with diabetes. Diabetes is an artifact of poor lifestyle choices including processed foods and inadequate exercise.
Nearly every conventional physician is clueless about how to treat type 2 diabetes. They just don't get it and actually use therapies like insulin that are the very cause of the problem.
This is not an insignificant issue for me as my dad's side of my family are pasta-loving Italians, and most every one of my aunts and uncles, as well as my father, have come down with or died from diabetes.
Many years ago, I followed the recommendation of a diet and exercise plan that was in absolute conflict with my protein metabolic type status. I gained 20 pounds, and my blood sugar shot up to 126. I had developed diabetes. (The ideal fasting blood glucose should be around 87. I become nervous when my patients have numbers over 100. Traditional standards state that diabetes is formally diagnosed at 120.)
But fortunately, contrary to what you may have heard, there is a cure for type 2 (adult-onset) diabetes. Even the prestigious New England Journal of Medicine has acknowledged that diet and exercise can completely eliminate diabetes. This is one of the reasons I am so passionate about Metabolic Typing -- it worked not only for my patients but also for me personally.
If you or someone you know has diabetes, you might want to review this Web site's many articles on the subject.

Related Articles:
The Diabetes Conundrum: What Physicians Are Teaching You May be Killing You
The Diabetes Epidemic Has Doubled in America
Letpin: How Diabetes and Obesity Are Linked
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