Good New For Insulin-Dependent Diabetics!

It may soon be possible to take insulin WITHOUT SHOTS.

There is an INHALABLE FORM OF INSULIN-DELIVERY that has now been developed. Instead of having to take injections, insulin-dependent diabetics would be able to use an inhaler, like asthmatics often do.

The FDA is currently considering whether to authorize use of the insulin inhaler.

From what I gather, it wouldn’t eliminate the need for the daily fingersticks to check bloodsugar, but at least it would eliminate the insulin injections themselves.

GET THE STORY.

(NOTE FOR THOSE WHO’VE NEVER KNOWN SOMEONE WITH INSULIN-DEPENDENT DIABETES: Such folks are required to check their bloodsugar regularly, typically by pricking a finger and putting a drop of blood on a testing strip which goes into a bloodsugar meter. Depending on what their bloodsugar is–and what they’re planning to eat–they then have to measure an amount of insulin and take it as an injection to keep their bloodsugar in control. The new system would seem to eliminate the need for the injection but not the fingersticks to check bloodsugar.)

Author: Jimmy Akin

Jimmy was born in Texas, grew up nominally Protestant, but at age 20 experienced a profound conversion to Christ. Planning on becoming a Protestant seminary professor, he started an intensive study of the Bible. But the more he immersed himself in Scripture the more he found to support the Catholic faith, and in 1992 he entered the Catholic Church. His conversion story, "A Triumph and a Tragedy," is published in Surprised by Truth. Besides being an author, Jimmy is the Senior Apologist at Catholic Answers, a contributing editor to Catholic Answers Magazine, and a weekly guest on "Catholic Answers Live."

2 thoughts on “Good New For Insulin-Dependent Diabetics!”

  1. There’s already an alternative to individual injections available for diabetics. It’s called an insulin pump. My Aunt wears one, and she says her diabetes has been in much better control since she got it. It’s especially helpful for people like her who may be somewhat absent-minded about their daily health care. “Insulin pumps deliver rapid- or short-acting insulin 24 hours a day through a catheter placed under the skin.” It measures insulin for you, delivering the needed dosage much more accurately than you could do yourself. Here’s a website describing the pumps, including advantages and disadvantages: http://www.diabetes.org/type-1-diabetes/insulin-pumps.jsp

  2. Joy-
    My husband also wears an insulin pump. The “catheter placed under the skin” still requires a needle…my husband must replace the catheter every three days. The pump has been great for him (except for a period of a month or so when he didn’t take into account the fact that the increased excercise of his new job would mean that he would need less insulin and he went into the hospital twice with extremely low blood sugar.) My husband still hates the needles involved in inserting the catheter, and he is looking forward to the inhaled insulin.

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