Coughkiller helps diabetics

According to a new study, an active ingredient in over-the-counter cough suppressants may lower blood glucose levels in people with type 2 diabetes. Diabetics should, however, wait with the purchase of cough syrup, because among other things, side effects must be examined in the longer term.

Active ingredient in cough medications helps diabetics
Researchers have found that the drug dextromethorphan found in many over-the-counter cough suppressants improves blood glucose levels in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus. Scientists from the Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf (HHU) and the University Hospital Düsseldorf (UKD) participated in the international study. As the physicians report in the journal "Nature Medicine", the drug stimulates the insulin-producing cells and protects them from cell death. The researchers hope that also type 1 diabetics could benefit from the drug.

Six million Germans affected
Diabetes is a dangerous metabolic disease that can cause life-threatening sequelae such as heart attack, high blood pressure, stroke and kidney failure. While genetic factors play a major role in type 1, overweight or obesity, lack of exercise and stress are the main risk factors for type 2 diabetes. In Germany, around six million people are affected, mostly of type 2 diabetes. Statistically, about 750 people develop diabetes every day in this country, every three patients die as a result of so-called diabetes.

Crucial is the hormone insulin
Decisive for the sugar metabolism in the body is the hormone insulin. When insulin is lacking, blood sugar increases. Since high blood sugar can lead to a life-threatening sugar shock or long-term damage to many organs, diabetes patients are often dependent on using drugs to stimulate insulin production. Many of them have to control the blood sugar level several times a day in the course of the disease and regulate it by injecting insulin - according to their food intake.

Improve the patient's situation in the long term
According to HHU researchers, the drug dextromethorphan stimulates the so-called beta cells in the pancreas to release more insulin when the blood sugar level is high. In the test subjects, the blood sugar level was improved, in particular peaks in the blood sugar concentration were reduced. It is said that the experiments indicate that dextromethorphan strengthens the insulin-producing beta cells in the pancreas and may protect them from cell death. This could improve the patient's long-term outlook, as diabetes often worsens over time because beta cells are increasingly losing insulin or dying completely.

Wait with the purchase of cough syrup
Benefit could also be type 1 diabetics in whom the beta cells die by an autoimmune reaction. Prof. Dr. Eckhard Lammert, head of the Institute of Metabolic Physiology at HHU, said: "In the longer term, we will investigate under medical supervision whether administering dextromethorphan to type 1 diabetics during the early stages of the disease can lead to insulin clearance." However, as the researchers emphasized, diabetics should wait until they buy a supply of cough syrup, because the effect and especially possible side effects would have to be examined in long-term clinical trials. (Ad)