A new, oral drug effective ii the control of some forms of dia betes, has just been okayed ty the Federal Food and Drug Ad ministration.
News of the release of this drug was received here by Dr. Josepl F. Dingman, professor of endo crinology and assistant professoi of medicine at the Tulane'university medical school. The news came on the eve of National Diabetic Week, which opens here Sunday.
The new drug, known as chlor-propamide or Diabinese, will be available for general use in the very near future, said Dr. Ding-man.
Together with his associates, Dr. Dingman has been trying out Diabinese since last March, administering it to a selected group of 5C patients at the medical school clinic.
'TABLETS DAILY' "We've been giving them the tablets daily," explained the youthful endocrinologist. "One at breakfast and, if deemed necessary, another at the evening meal."
Dr. Dingman said this oral treatment is followed up by laboratory tests.
"In the lab," he explained, "we measure the changes in blood and urine sugar, noting any improvement and adjusting the dose to the patient. We also watch for side reactions, doing special blood and liver tests to determine toxicity. We examine the patients frequently for any complications or important changes."
Dr. Dingman said, up to now, there has been only one oral drug available for general use in the control of diabetes. This drug, he explained, is called tolbutamide or Orinase and it's a close relative of the new drug.
But neither drug, he warned, is effective in all forms of diabetes. "These two oral drugs help only the. so-called, mild cases of the adult form of diabetes," added! Dr. Dingman." We hope some day to find a medication which will replace the need for insulin in all forms of diabetes."
The physician said that Dr. Charles Best, of Toronto, Canada, one of the discoverers of insulin, recently expressed the hope that the day will come when insulin can be taken by the mouth. photo: ONE OF THE EXPERTS who has been testing Diabinese since last March is Dr. Joseph F. Dingman, professor of endocrinology and assistant professor of medicine at the Tulane university medical school. He is pictured at work in his laboratory. Diabinese, an oral drug effective in the control of some forms of diabetes, has been approved by the federal food and drug administration, Dr. Dingman revealed Saturday.
