| Inhaled insulin controls diabetes
over long term
NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - People with diabetes might soon be
able to throw away their insulin syringes. An inhaled form of insulin
provides good long-term control of blood sugar levels, a new study
shows, and patients much prefer the treatment to injected insulin.
Previous short-term (12-week) studies demonstrated the efficacy
and patient acceptance of inhaled insulin among people with type
1 or Type 2 diabetes, Dr. Robert A. Gerber from Pfizer Global Research
and Development in Groton, Connecticut, and colleagues explain in
the medical journal Diabetes Care. They then followed 121 participants
in the original studies who participated in a 1-year extension study.
Improvements in hemoglobin A1c levels -- a measure of long-term
control of blood sugar levels -- were similar in subjects who continued
taking inhaled insulin, those who switched from injected to inhaled
insulin, patients who continued on injected insulin, and people
who switched from inhaled to subcutaneous insulin, the authors report.
Episodes of excessively low blood sugar levels were also similar
regardless of insulin treatment, the report indicates.
There had been questions about the effect of inhaled insulin on
the lungs, but average changes in pulmonary function were the same
with inhaled or injected insulin.
During the 1-year extension, participants taking inhaled insulin
reported significantly greater improvements in overall satisfaction,
ease of use, and social comfort than did patients on injected insulin,
the researchers note.
"Results from the current investigation are the first to suggest
that the rapid improvement in patient satisfaction with inhaled
insulin is sustained," the authors conclude, "and long-term
improvements in glycemic control and patient satisfaction are maintained
up to the 1-year follow-up."
SOURCE: Diabetes Care, June 2004.
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