Diabetes Cure in Cow Urine?

Indian researchers have found that cow urine contains certain molecules that can fight diabetes, according to this report.

Not to knock anyone’s good, hard research, but what popped into my mind when I read this was a scene with the witches in Macbeth:

“Eye of newt, and toe of frog,
Wool of bat, and tongue of dog,
Adder’s fork, and blind-worm’s sting,
Lizard’s leg, and howlet’s wing,–
For a charm of powerful trouble,
Like a hell-broth boil and bubble.”
Macbeth (IV, i, 14-15)

* My suggestion: substitute the words “pee of cow” in place of “eye of newt.”  Not bad, right?

The truth is, I don’t know what to make of this report, and since it’s so sparse it’s difficult to gauge the seriousness of the research.  I don’t think using bovine urine molecules would be considered xenotransplanation, like infusing pig islet cells into humans.  But certainly, whatever it is,  if it works (and no cows are harmed while their urine is harvested) then I’m all for it.  Hey – with Avandia under fire there is a nice opening for a new diabetes drug.

[dailymotion]http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xcdvy9_cow-urine-key-ingredient-in-breakth_news[/dailymotion]

Jessica Apple

Jessica Apple grew up in Houston. She studied Bible and Ancient Near Eastern Studies at the University of Michigan, and completed an MA in the same field at the Hebrew University. She began to write and publish short stories while a student, and has continued to write essays and fiction while raising her three sons (and many pets).

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Jessica Apple

Jessica Apple grew up in Houston. She studied Bible and Ancient Near Eastern Studies at the University of Michigan, and completed an MA in the same field at the Hebrew University. She began to write and publish short stories while a student, and continues to write essays and fiction while raising her three sons (and many pets). Jessica’s work has appeared in The New York Times Magazine, The Financial Times Magazine, The Southern Review, The Bellevue Literary Review, Tablet Magazine, and elsewhere. She is the diabetes correspondent for The Faster Times. In 2009 she and her husband, both type 1 diabetics, founded A Sweet Life, where she serves as editor-in-chief. Jessica loves spending time with her sons, cooking with her husband, playing with her cats, reading, biking, drinking coffee, and whenever possible, taking a nap. Follow Jessica on Twitter (@jessapple)