Health

Could Insulin Pills Prevent Diabetes? Big Study Seeks Answer

Published

11 years ago

July 3, 2015

This photo taken Wednesday, May 13, 2015, shows insulin pills taken by Hayden Murphy, 13, who is participating in a study in Plainfield, Ill. to try to prevent or at least delay Type 1 diabetes. (AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh)

LINDSEY TANNER, AP Medical Writer

CHICAGO (AP) — For nearly a century, insulin has been a life-saving diabetes treatment. Now scientists are testing a tantalizing question: What if pills containing the same medicine patients inject every day could also prevent the disease?

Thirteen-year-old Hayden Murphy of Plainfield, Illinois, is helping researchers determine if the strategy works for Type 1 diabetes, the kind that is usually diagnosed in childhood. If it does, he might be able to avoid the lifetime burdens facing his 5-year-old brother, Weston. They includes countless finger pricks and blood sugar checks, and avoiding playing too hard or eating too little, which both can cause dangerous blood sugar fluctuations.

Hayden Murphy is among more than 400 children and adults participating in U.S. government-funded international research investigating whether experimental insulin capsules can prevent or at least delay Type 1 diabetes. Hospitals in the United States and eight other countries are involved and recruitment is ongoing. To enroll, participants must first get bad news: results of a blood test showing their chances for developing the disease are high.

“When I got the news, I was devastated,” Hayden said. He knows it means his life could change in an instant.

“He has the daily reminders. He sees what his brother goes through,” said the boys’ mom, Myra Murphy.

So now Hayden Murphy swallows a small white capsule daily and has his blood checked periodically for signs of diabetes.

“I hope it doesn’t come to me, and I really didn’t want it to come to him,” Hayden said.

A small, preliminary study by different researchers, published recently in the Journal of the American Medical Association, suggests the approach might work. Children who took insulin pills showed immune system changes that the researchers said might help prevent diabetes. The study was too small and didn’t last long enough to know for sure.

The ongoing larger study is more rigorous, randomly assigning participants to get experimental insulin capsules or dummy pills, and should provide a clearer answer.

“Does it prevent indefinitely? Does it slow it down, does it delay diabetes? That also would be a pretty big win,” said Dr. Louis Philipson, a University of Chicago diabetes specialist involved in the study.

About 1.25 million Americans have Type 1 diabetes. Type 2 disease is more common, affecting nearly 30 million nationwide and most of the more than 300 million worldwide with diabetes. Besides short-term complications from poorly controlled blood sugar, both types raise long-term risks for damage to the kidneys, heart and eyes.

Both types are increasing and for Type 2, experts think that’s because of rising obesity and inactivity. But the upward trend in Type 1 diabetes, increasing worldwide by at least 3 percent each year, is more perplexing.

“We know so very little about the exact mechanisms that cause Type 1 diabetes,” which complicates efforts to prevent it, said Dr. Desmond Schatz, the study’s chair and medical director of the University of Florida Diabetes Center.

“For the most part, it’s really shooting an arrow into a field and hoping one of the arrows hits a target,” Schatz said.

In Type 1 diabetes, the pancreas stops making insulin, a blood sugar-regulating hormone that helps the body convert sugar in food into energy. Treatment is lifetime replacement insulin, usually via injections or a small pump. In Type 2, the body can’t make proper use of insulin. It can sometimes be treated with a healthy diet and exercise.

Genes are thought to increase risks for Type 1 diabetes. Viruses and other infections are among factors suggested as possible triggers the disease, which causes the body’s immune system to attack insulin-producing cells.

Dr. Wendy Brickman, a diabetes specialist at Chicago’s Lurie Children’s Hospital who’s involved in the study, explained that researchers think taking insulin by mouth so that it’s digested like food might somehow trick the faulty immune system into not attacking insulin-making cells.

Insulin pills also are being studied as a diabetes treatment, but the challenge has been finding a way to get the drug to reach the bloodstream without being degraded as it is digested.

A branch of the National Institutes of Health is funding the prevention research, including two other studies: one involves infusions of the drug Orencia, approved for rheumatoid arthritis, another autoimmune disease; the other involves infusions of an experimental drug called teplizumab.

If prevention pills work, they’d likely be less expensive than having a lifetime of diabetes, said Lisa Spain, an institute scientist and program director. Results from the insulin pill prevention study are expected in 2017, she said, adding that it’s too soon to predict an outcome.

Hayden Murphy and his family are cautiously optimistic; after three years in the study, he’s shown no signs of diabetes. Still, his mom says she worries every time he seems thirstier than usual — among symptoms her youngest boy had before his diagnosis three years ago.

There’s a middle son, too — 9-year-old Daxton, who faces an increased diabetes risk because his little brother has it.

“It definitely is a life-changing diagnosis,” Myra Murphy said.

___

Study information: http://tinyurl.com/nfv3ql7

American Diabetes Association: http://www.diabetes.org

___

AP Medical Writer Lindsey Tanner can be reached at http://www.twitter.com/LindseyTanner

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COMMENTARY: The Biases We Don’t See — Preventing AI-Driven Inequality in Health Care

For decades, medicine promoted false assumptions about Black bodies. Black patients were told they had lower lung capacity, and medical devices adjusted their results accordingly. That practice was not broadly reversed until 2021. Up until 2022, a common medical formula used to measure how well a person’s kidneys were working automatically gave Black patients a higher score simply because they were Black. On paper, this made their kidneys appear healthier than they truly were. As a result, kidney disease was sometimes detected later in Black patients, delaying critical treatment and referrals.

Published

5 days ago

February 10, 2026

Oakland Post

Sen. Akilah Weber Pierson, M.D (D-San Diego). File photo.

By Sen. Akilah Weber Pierson, M.D., Special to California Black Media Partners

Technology is sold to us as neutral, objective, and free of human flaws. We are told that computers remove emotion, bias, and error from decision-making. But for many Black families, lived experience tells a different story. When technology is trained on biased systems, it reflects those same biases and silently carries them forward.

We have seen this happen across multiple industries. Facial recognition software has misidentified Black faces at far higher rates than White faces, leading to wrongful police encounters and arrests. Automated hiring systems have filtered out applicants with traditionally Black names because past hiring data reflected discriminatory patterns. Financial algorithms have denied loans or offered worse terms to Black borrowers based on zip codes and historical inequities, rather than individual creditworthiness. These systems did not become biased on their own. They were trained on biased data.

Healthcare is not immune.

These biases were not limited to software or medical devices. Dangerous myths persisted that Black people feel less pain, contributing to undertreatment and delayed care. These beliefs were embedded in modern training and practice, not distant history. Those assumptions shaped the data that now feeds medical technology. When biased clinical practices form the basis of algorithms, the risk is not hypothetical. The bias can be learned, automated, and scaled.

For us in the Black community, this creates understandable fear and mistrust. Many families already carry generational memories of medical discrimination, from higher maternal mortality to lower life expectancy to being dismissed or unheard in clinical settings. Adding AI biases could make our community even more apprehensive about the healthcare system.

As a physician, I know how much trust patients place in the healthcare system during their most vulnerable moments. As a Black woman, I understand how bias can shape experiences in ways that are often invisible to those who do not live them. As a mother of two Black children, I think constantly about the systems that will shape their health and well-being. As a legislator, I believe it is our responsibility to confront emerging risks before they become widespread harm.

That is why I am the author of Senate Bill (SB) 503. This bill aims to regulate the use of artificial intelligence in healthcare by requiring developers and users of AI systems to identify, mitigate, and monitor biased impacts in their outputs to reduce racial and other disparities in clinical decision-making and patient care.

Currently under consideration in the State Assembly, SB 503 was not written to slow innovation. In fact, I encourage it. But it is our duty must ensure that every tool we in the healthcare field helps patients rather than harms them.

The health of our families depends on it.

About the Author

Sen. Akilah Weber Pierson (D–San Diego) is a physician and public health advocate representing California’s 39th Senate District.

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As California Hits Aging Milestone, State Releases Its Fifth Master Plan for Aging

“California’s Master Plan for Aging started a powerful movement that is shaping the future of aging in our state for generations to come,” Gov. Gavin Newsom said in a statement, calling the initiative a “future-forward” model delivering real results for older adults, people with disabilities, and their families.

Published

6 days ago

February 9, 2026

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iStock.

By Bo Tefu, California Black Media

On Jan. 27, California released its Fifth Master Plan for Aging Annual Report,titled “Focusing on What Matters Most,” outlining the state’s progress and priorities as its population rapidly grows older.

The report, issued by the California Health and Human Services Agency (CalHHS), provides updates on the Master Plan for Aging’s “Five Bold Goals”: housing, health, inclusion and equity, caregiving, and affordability.

The report comes as Californians aged 60 and older now outnumber those under 18 for the first time, a demographic shift expected to accelerate over the next decade.

Launched in 2021, the Master Plan for Aging takes a “whole-of- government” and “whole-of-society” approach, coordinating state agencies, local governments, community organizations, and private partners. The annual report highlights significant milestones, including more than 100 California communities joining AARP’s Age-Friendly Network and $4 million in state funding awarded to local organizations to develop aging and disability action plans in 30 communities statewide.

The report also underscores California’s leadership at the national level, noting that dozens of states have followed its example and that federal legislation inspired by the plan was reintroduced in the U.S. Senate in December 2025.

CalHHS Secretary Kim Johnson emphasized the plan’s focus on equity and resilience amid ongoing challenges.

“The Master Plan for Aging continues to provide a vision, a focus, and a platform for collaboration,” Johnson said. “Equity is at the center of all that we do.”

Looking ahead, the report notes that by 2030, one in four Californians will be age 60 or older, positioning the Master Plan for Aging as a central framework for meeting the state’s long-term social, economic, and health needs.

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Candidates Vying for Governor’s Seat Debate at Ruth Williams–Bayview Opera House in San Francisco

The gubernatorial debate participants included Antonio Villaraigosa, former Los Angeles mayor; Matt Mahan, San Jose mayor; Betty Yee, former California state controller; Xavier Becerra, former U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services, and attorney general of California; Steve Hilton, political commentator and political adviser; Tom Steyer, entrepreneur, and Tony Thurmond, California’s superintendent of public instruction.

Published

6 days ago

February 9, 2026

Oakland Post

The gubernatorial debate was hosted by KTVU’s Greg Lee, KTTV’s Marla Tellez and KTVU’s Andre Senior. The candidates are (l.-r.): Xavier Becerra, Steve Hilton, Matt Mahan, Tom Steyer, Tony Thurmond, Antonio Villaraigosa, and Betty Yee.

By Carla Thomas

On Tuesday, Feb. 3, seven candidates took the stage at the historic Ruth Williams–Bayview Opera House in San Francisco for the gubernatorial debate, hosted by the Black Action Alliance (BAA) in partnership with KTVU and sister station KTTV Fox 11 in Los Angeles.

For many voters, it marked a first opportunity to hear directly from several candidates seeking to lead the nation’s most populous state.

Crucial topics and issues addressed throughout the debate included housing, crime, immigration, climate change, health care and homelessness.

The debate was moderated by KTVU political reporter Greg Lee alongside KTVU’s Andre Senior and KTTV Fox 11’s Marla Tellez.

Candidates also addressed inflation and the rising costs across the state, impacting everything from groceries to childcare and health care.

Thurmond vowed to generate 2.3 million units of housing by placing 12 units on each parcel of available land in the 58 counties of California. Steyer agreed that billionaires should pay their fair share of taxes.

Hilton wanted to cut taxes, help working-class families, and end the Democrats “climate crusade and insane regulations.”

Yee offered a more transparent governmental approach with accountability, given the state’s debt.

Gonzalez said, “This debate was a great way to see who has great ideas and who has substance.”

“It’s important to have the debate within a community that requires the most,” said business leader Linda Fadekye.

Attendees included State Controller Malia Cohen, representatives of the National Coalition of 100 Black Women, the National Coalition of 100 Black Men, the San Francisco African American Chamber of Commerce, and Black Women Organized for Political Action, among others.

Event host, the Black Action Alliance (BAA) was established to amplify the voices of the Bay Area’s Black community, whose perspectives have too often been overlooked in politics and public policy.

Loren Taylor, CEO of BAA, said it was important to bring the event to the Bayview in San Francisco and shared his organization’s mission.

“The Black Action Alliance (BAA) stands for practical, community-driven solutions that strengthen public safety, address homelessness, support small businesses, expand affordable housing, and ensure access to quality education—issues at the heart of the Black experience in the Bay Area,” said Taylor.

California’s primary election will take place on June 2 and the general election will take place on Nov. 3.