Apparently, the spit of a Gila monster is the next greatest fad in weight loss.
The Gila monster, which hails from the Southwest portion of the United States, has been blessed with some mighty miraculous spit. The drug Byetta, which has been successfully treating persons with diabetes for the last three years, contains Gila monster saliva. Many persons in the medical field say it’s an improvement over other medications currently on the market for diabetes. Now studies are being conducted to see if those same properties can be harnessed to help with weight loss.
I’m trying to visualize just how it was that they discovered this saliva could be beneficial. In the first place, the Gila monster is poisonous. That really makes me want to ingest any liquids that one might produce. Secondly, they’re called . . . monsters. Very confidence-inspiring. Just what was it that made them even pursue this line of research? Was a diabetic bitten by a Gila monster and then noticed an improvement in their blood sugar? Something like that must have happened, otherwise, how did they even get the idea?
Regardless of just how they discovered this fact, it turns out a hormone found in this lizard spit is fifty percent identical to a hormone in the human digestive tract that increases the production of insulin when blood sugar levels are high. They took this information and formulated the drug Byetta, which is injectable and has been not only been lowering blood sugar levels in diabetic patients, but apparently helping them lose weight, too, which inspired this new study. (As a side note, Byetta has been linked to pancreatitis, but studies are inconclusive as to the cause, be it the drug itself or the saliva ingredient.)
I’ll be curious to see how this study goes. I’m somewhat relieved to think that perhaps the spit looks a bit less . . . spit-like. I’m also curious to learn whether they will artificially replicate the spit or if poor little Gila monsters all over the Southwest will suddenly be set upon by scientists, wanting to make them drool. They are protected in Nevada and Arizona, so perhaps they could drool voluntarily. My bet is on artificial replication. Or maybe they’ll reimburse the monsters for their time, or make them partners in the company, with stock and voting rights . . .
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(photo courtesy of Morguefile.)