A new electrical pill that aims to regulate people's appetites could be the next promising treatment for diabetes and obesity.
The smart capsule, called Flash – which stands for fluid-wicking capsule for active simulation and hormone modulation – has been developed by a team of researchers from NYU Abu Dhabi and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
The ingestible capsule is a non-invasive electrical device that works by stimulating the stomach and triggering the brain to regulate gut hormones related to hunger.
It is designed to suppress hunger levels by sending electric shocks through the stomach once swallowed.
The pill could be used to treat eating disorders such as obesity and anorexia, and other medical conditions that benefit from adjusting someone's food intake.
The World Health Organisation estimates that a billion people in the world are living with obesity, while 422 million people worldwide have diabetes.
About one in five people in the UAE have diabetes, with that ratio expected to double by 2040.
The condition is usually associated with obesity, a sedentary lifestyle and poor diet.
"Flash is one of the first ingestible electroceutical that can regulate precise neurohormonal circuits, while avoiding the discomfort patients can experience with invasive treatments," Khalil Ramadi said in a press release.
In a study co-authored by Prof Ramadi and published in Science Robotics, the researchers revealed they were able to trigger the release of ghrelin — an appetite hormone — using Flash in trials on pigs, by orally administering a single pill.
Its design was inspired by the water-wicking skin of the Australian thorny devil lizard, which allows it to connect directly to the stomach tissue to regulate hunger-triggering hormones.
Researchers now believe Flash could be used as an alternative to diabetes treatments such as insulin, as well as other medical conditions, including heart disease and eating disorders, that require medication or surgery.
Prof Ramadi, who led the team of researchers, said that further development of the pill could go on to offer customisation for patients, and even treat neuropsychological conditions such as depression and anxiety.
According to the researchers, Flash requires no surgical intervention and has no side effects, unlike other medications used to treat diabetes and eating disorders which can cause unwanted side effects such as restlessness, nausea, uncontrolled weight gain, headaches and muscle spasms.
Doctors are now doing pre-clinical testing with the goal of starting human trials with an advanced prototype within five years.
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UK’s AI plan
- AI ambassadors such as MIT economist Simon Johnson, Monzo cofounder Tom Blomfield and Google DeepMind’s Raia Hadsell
- £10bn AI growth zone in South Wales to create 5,000 jobs
- £100m of government support for startups building AI hardware products
- £250m to train new AI models
How to get there
Emirates (www.emirates.com) flies directly to Hanoi, Vietnam, with fares starting from around Dh2,725 return, while Etihad (www.etihad.com) fares cost about Dh2,213 return with a stop. Chuong is 25 kilometres south of Hanoi.
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AUSTRALIA SQUAD
Steve Smith (capt), David Warner, Cameron Bancroft, Jackson Bird, Pat Cummins, Peter Handscomb, Josh Hazlewood, Usman Khawaja, Nathan Lyon, Shaun Marsh, Tim Paine, Chadd Sayers, Mitchell Starc.
Director: Laxman Utekar
Cast: Vicky Kaushal, Akshaye Khanna, Diana Penty, Vineet Kumar Singh, Rashmika Mandanna
Rating: 1/5
A list of the animal rescue organisations in the UAE
Your rights as an employee
The government has taken an increasingly tough line against companies that fail to pay employees on time. Three years ago, the Cabinet passed a decree allowing the government to halt the granting of work permits to companies with wage backlogs.
The new measures passed by the Cabinet in 2016 were an update to the Wage Protection System, which is in place to track whether a company pays its employees on time or not.
If wages are 10 days late, the new measures kick in and the company is alerted it is in breach of labour rules. If wages remain unpaid for a total of 16 days, the authorities can cancel work permits, effectively shutting off operations. Fines of up to Dh5,000 per unpaid employee follow after 60 days.
Despite those measures, late payments remain an issue, particularly in the construction sector. Smaller contractors, such as electrical, plumbing and fit-out businesses, often blame the bigger companies that hire them for wages being late.
The authorities have urged employees to report their companies at the labour ministry or Tawafuq service centres — there are 15 in Abu Dhabi.
What is dialysis?
Dialysis is a way of cleaning your blood when your kidneys fail and can no longer do the job.
It gets rid of your body's wastes, extra salt and water, and helps to control your blood pressure. The main cause of kidney failure is diabetes and hypertension.
There are two kinds of dialysis — haemodialysis and peritoneal.
In haemodialysis, blood is pumped out of your body to an artificial kidney machine that filter your blood and returns it to your body by tubes.
In peritoneal dialysis, the inside lining of your own belly acts as a natural filter. Wastes are taken out by means of a cleansing fluid which is washed in and out of your belly in cycles.
It isn’t an option for everyone but if eligible, can be done at home by the patient or caregiver. This, as opposed to home haemodialysis, is covered by insurance in the UAE.
