‘It’s all-consuming’: cancer patients ration food as drug runs dry
https://www.thetimes.com/article/53261c3e-9db3-4649-8a2a-e32269390d33?shareToken=133d6cb515083dc838692521572e74bf
Posted by shaunlintern
‘It’s all-consuming’: cancer patients ration food as drug runs dry
https://www.thetimes.com/article/53261c3e-9db3-4649-8a2a-e32269390d33?shareToken=133d6cb515083dc838692521572e74bf
Posted by shaunlintern
7 Comments
working archive link
[https://archive.ph/Tq9D3](https://archive.ph/Tq9D3)
>The shortage has been caused by increased consumer demand for low-fat pigs, which then produce less of the enzyme, meaning the volume of Creon that can be produced is not enough to meet needs
this low-fat craze is getting even more stupid. There is nothing wrong with saturated animal fats.
> while others have paid hundreds of pounds to buy tablets from pharmacies in mainland Europe, online or in person.
So there is no shortage in mainland Europe? I wonder why there is almost no private market for prescription drugs in the UK.
Interesting that we don’t synthesise it in a lab, I wonder if that’s on the horizon?
Couldn’t they use rNA technology they used to synthesize insulin artificially in the early 80s to synthesize pancreatic enzymes?
Before the advent of rNA technology, insulin was exclusively extracted and refined from animal derived sources. It’s unfortunate similar technology seemingly cannot be utilised to artificially synthesize the enzymes needed.
Hopefully some bright spark out there devises a technique to synthesize the enzymes needed in a cost-effective manner that ensues the supply needed to meet need / demand is met.
Why don’t they breed high fat pig breeds for the enzyme and sell the meat as a bonus, instead of low fat breeds for meat and the enzyme as a bonus?
Fat can always be chopped off or rendered out of the meat anyway
I’ve got Pancreatic Insufficiency (not cancer) and I need to take 4 tablets with snacks and 6 with meals, it’s become a constant source of stress for me every month having to search around at different pharmacies trying to source some Creon, I’m currently having to ration out my meals so that I have enough to take with me on a month long holiday to Japan in October.