Nutrition 21, a leading developer and marketer of clinically proven nutritional products, has been granted a patent by the United States Patent and Trademark Office for the use of chromium picolinate in high doses to stabilise blood glucose levels and reduce hyperglycemia associated with Type 2 diabetes.
"We believe that human clinical studies will continue to demonstrate that chromium picolinate should be an integral component of nutritional therapy for Type 2 diabetes and insulin resistance," said Gail Montgomery, president and chief executive officer of Nutrition 21. "To date, 10 clinical studies have shown chromium picolinate to significantly improve blood sugar control in people with diabetes, making it the most studied form of chromium supplementation in this patient population."
Nutrition 21 currently holds 31 patents for nutrition products, 21 of them for chromium compounds and their uses.
According to the American Diabetes Association, over 16 million Americans have diabetes. Patients with Type 2 diabetes represent 90% of the overall diabetic patient population. In Type 2 diabetes, the body's ability to produce and use insulin to process carbohydrates, proteins and fats deteriorates, resulting over time in serious health complications.
Complications associated with diabetes include heart disease and stroke, kidney disease, blindness, nerve disease and amputations and impotence. More than half of the direct medical costs associated with diabetes arise from the treatment of complications. The direct and indirect cost of treating diabetes in the United States was $98 billion in 1997. The US market for diabetes drugs was $9.3 billion in 2000.
Chromium is essential for optimal insulin activity in all known insulin-dependent systems. Insufficient dietary chromium has been linked to both adult-onset diabetes and to cardiovascular disease.