An insulin inhaler was being tested in the early 2000′s and Pfizer is planning on a ‘hopeful’ breakthrough in 2008. However, there are issues with inhaled insulin that doctors must get past before it can provide the right insulin levels for you at the right speed and time frame that you need it in your system.
The waiting list is long for people who would love to switch their injections over to inhaled insulin, but the medication isn’t right just yet. According to many of the tests that have taken place with hundreds of diabetic patients, the injection of the insulin with a needle goes straight to the blood stream and works immediately right when the patient needs it. Inhaling insulin is difficult because it goes into the stomach and has to make it past all of the acids in the stomach and get into the blood stream.
Unfortunately, the inhaled insulin was only a reality for a short period and pharmaceuticals started taking it off the shelves because the inhaled insulin did not replace the need for injections and creating a false reality was dangerous for the companies.
However, companies are still working on a breakthrough so people don’t have to continue to puncture their skin with needles every time they need to check their blood glucose levels. Their ultimate goal is to provide a less invasive way of giving insulin for all diabetics who have to do this several times a day. They are aware the line is long for people awaiting the cure that will replace the needles, but inhaling the insulin is not the right solution today. The reasons are that inhaling still required a shot of insulin to be given with it because inhaling the insulin didn’t put enough in the system and the body couldn’t get it into the blood stream fast enough. In addition, inhaling insulin posed other risks that the doctors were unsure of taking related to the insulin going straight to the lungs.
A working insulin inhaler is a big desire in the diabetic world and doctors are working frantically to provide a solution so people won’t have to inject themselves too much longer.