SAN ANTONIO — For diabetics having to stick yourself with a needle multiple times a day to inject insulin can be a painful and very unpleasant process for adults, and even more so for children.
Up until now inhaled insulin has only been available to adults. But a new study aims to open the door for inhaled insulin to children. One benefit is not having to use a needle, but also the speed at which the inhaled insulin works. The Director of the Diabetes & Glandular Disease Clinic, Dr. Mark Kipnes told us, "Injections of insulin take about 15 minutes to start to work, whereas inhaled insulin works much more quickly."
Dr. Kipnes says this would work for most type 1 and type 2 diabetic patients. He added, "Patients with type one diabetes, their pancreas gradually does not work at all in terms of insulin secretion. Type two patients produce since then, but they don't produce enough insulin. They have insulin resistance."
The study being conducted by the Diabetes and Glandular Disease Clinic is for patients with both type-1 and type-2 diabetes, between the ages of four and 18. It is a phase three clinical trial, the last phase in the overall trial. It compares the safety of both Afrezza, which is inhaled insulin approved for adults, to a long acting conventional injectable insulin.
"We're one of about 30 sites in the country that are doing this," Dr. Kipnes said,
Dr. Kipnes says the study should show that inhaled insulin greatly reduces the risk of hypoglycemia and a phenomenon called stacking.
"Where patients become impatient and so they take a shot and then their sugar still up, they take a shot and all of a sudden they plummet. Then with inhaled insulin, that's much less likely to happen," Dr. Kipnes added.
If you would like more information about the study, or to see if your child could qualify to be a part of it, 210-615-5549.
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