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Being able to take insulin without a needle has no doubt been a dream for most of us at one time or another and many researchers and pharmaceutical companies have been hard at work for many years trying to make it happen. Well at long last there have been clinical trials of inhalable insulin. Reality Checker Rebecca Smith volunteered to contribute to the advancement of medical science by participating in a trial and she shares her experience in an interview. How old are you and how long have you had diabetes? I'm 20 and have had D for 8 years, diagnosed on my 12th birthday. How did you get on the trial? Got on the trial mainly due to the fact that my doctor was part of the running committee. The trial was run through a clinic. My endo was the doctor monitoring all patients and there was an extra lady working there who ran all the trial stuff! Were there special conditions you had to meet in order to participate? I had to be between 18 and 40 I think, without complications, no lung function problems and taking less than 100 units of insulin a day of novorapid and protophane. Does the inhaler replace injections completely? The inhaler
only replaces the short acting (novorapid) injections. You It is about the size and weight of a brick!! It is inconvenient - you need to be carrying a pretty big, pretty empty handbag if you are transporting the inhaler. Did you notice any "differences" either in your control or general health or feelings about having d whilst you were on the trial? I found my control was pretty well the same though I was more inclined to skip doses because of the inconvenience of lugging the inhaler around and the attention it drew. What are the major advantages/disadvantages of the inhaler? I guess advantages would be the reduction of injection sites and the associated tissue damage and I guess if you are terrified of needles it would be of some use. The major disadvantage is the inconvenience arising from its size. It is very indiscrete I felt uncomfortable carrying it and doing insulin in public because it drew a lot of attention unlike injecting with a pen. Would you use it if it was generally available and would you pay to use it if it was more expensive than pens? I wouldn't use it if it was generally available and I definitely wouldn't pay extra for it!!! So, you wouldn’t recommend it to a friend (with diabetes of course)? No, not generally. I mean it would depend on the situation but in 90% of cases definitely not.
It’s worth remembering though that technology keeps advancing, pumps used to require a backpack and my first glucometer was about the size of a brick (although unlike the present inhaler I seem to remember it wasn’t as heavy as a brick). One day soon, maybe the inhaler will shrink to a convenient and discrete size and be as commonplace as pens and meters are now. For more about current and future developments in insulin delivery - from pumps to patches, see Mel's earlier article: Insulin Delivery Options.
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