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Research Team Creates Pill That Unfolds in the Stomach

posted by janrinok on Monday November 21 2016, @05:15PM   Printer-friendly
from the stars-in-their-gut dept.

charon writes:

A medical research team has created a prototype of a new type of pill which unfolds inside the stomach so it can release a drug slowly over ten days or more.

The new device, which has been tested in pigs, could be a potential solution not only for patients with chronic diseases, but also as a way to treat conditions in third world countries that require long-term therapies, such as malaria. The researchers published the results of their proof-of-concept study in the journal Science Translational Medicine on Wednesday.

The pill had to overcome some major hurdles. The stomach contains extremely strong muscles that ensure every last drop of food makes its way out into the small intestine, so it's hard for pills to have staying power. To combat this, the researchers designed the drug so that when swallowed, the capsule opens up into a sort of star. This shape prevents the pill from leaving the stomach and entering the small intestine.

[...] Once the pill releases the last dose, it breaks apart and can finally pass out of the stomach and into the small intestine.

It's still in early stages of development, but this could be a life-saving development for the up to 50% of patients who do not take their medications as prescribed.

Full paper at this link.

Original Submission

 
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  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday November 21 2016, @07:47PM

    by Anonymous Coward on Monday November 21 2016, @07:47PM (#430784)

    Well, "denatured" alcohol is just regular alcohol, but with poison added. This is done solely to make this alcohol not be a way around the sin tax put on alcohol for consumption.

    So, yeah, we would rather poison people than let them get away with getting drunk without paying the proper taxes. I'd say he's not too far off from what some people would do.

  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday November 21 2016, @08:10PM

    by Anonymous Coward on Monday November 21 2016, @08:10PM (#430803)

    Nobody is tricking people into drinking denatured alcohol. In fact, denatured alcohol is explicitly made to taste horrible so you won't drink it and it is also typically dyed purple so you won't even try drinking it by accident.

    Nor does anyone point at some poor slob who tried drinking it and got sick and say he got what he deserved because alcohol is bad.

    VLM is claiming a deliberate malicious intent that your example contradicts.