Octreotide
FDA approved
Digestion and weight
Digestion and weightHow it works
A longer-lived somatostatin, the hormone brake: it curbs excess growth hormone and the flushing and diarrhea of carcinoid tumors.
What it's made of
8 amino acids in a ring, designed in 1982 from somatostatin (14). The natural hormone lasts 1 to 3 minutes in the blood; octreotide, almost 2 hours.
What it's for
- Prescribed for
- Acromegaly; diarrhea and flushing from carcinoid tumors; diarrhea from VIPomas. In Spain, the monthly form also to slow advanced neuroendocrine tumors of the gut.
Educational satire, not medical advice.