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Q. A guest on your radio show mentioned an experimental use for a drug that had been used for inflammation and is now being looked at for diabetes prevention. It was “sawcelate” or something like that. What is the correct spelling, please?
A. The drug is salsalate. It is related to aspirin and fights pain and inflammation as aspirin does. It is far less irritating to the digestive tract, however.
Scientists at the Joslin Diabetes Center have found that salsalate can help people with diabetes and pre-diabetes lower their blood sugar and may be useful in preventing diabetes (Diabetes Care, Feb. 2008). Like aspirin, salsalate has been used for more than a century. Unlike aspirin, however, it is available only by prescription.
I am taking salsalate that was prescribed for me for arthritis pain. I had used it sporadically until I heard on a news program that it appeared to work for diabetes. I began taking it regularly (3000 mg daily) and my blood sugar and A1C improved a lot with no change in diet. Diet alone had not been controlling it reliably and I did not wish to use a diabetes drug that sounded like I would feel the way I had after a Whipple procedure and radiation.
The problem now is that none of the physicians I see knows anything about salsalate or what follow up I might need to insure that I am not doing something to my liver, remaining kidney, etc. I have had reflux for the last nine years and take a proton pump inhibitor daily. Annoying of course, but not too many pancreatic cancer patients get to complain about the side effects of treatment is the none too subtle message I sometimes get from my internist.
I would love to have someone tell me what kind of risks I might be running. So far I am just guessing whether any potential damage is being balanced by a definite improvement in blood sugar control.