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.
