BMJ  2004;328:1215-1216 (22 May), doi:10.1136/bmj.328.7450.1215

Editorial

Inhaled insulin

May prove to be a panacea

The first 150 words of the full text of this article appear below.

For over 80 years exogenous insulin has been given by injection. The injection devices have improved—disposable syringes and pen injection devices are more convenient and less traumatic than the boil to sterilise, use until too blunt devices of yesteryear—but patients and healthcare professionals remain uneasy about the concept of injections. Yet the evidence based drive for increasingly tight glycaemic control means that more patients should be offered more injections. A recent attempt to circumvent the need for injection that may soon hit a clinic near you is the use of the lung as an absorption pathway, with the development of insulins to be taken by inhalation. Two versions, a powder and an aerosol, may be nearing launch.

Insulin can be effective given by inhalation. This was first shown in 1971, although the early work was not pursued, and it was not until 2000 that the modern era of inhaled insulin . . . [Full text of this article]

Department of Medicine, King's College School of Medicine, London SE5 9PJ

Department of Endocrinology and Metabolic Medicine, Imperial College, St Mary's Hospital, London W2 1NY (george.alberti@ncl.ac.uk)

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Inhaled insulin: Evidence based or industry driven medicine?

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This article has been cited by other articles:

• Regan, F. M, Dunger, D. B (2006). Use of new insulins in children. EDUCATION AND PRACTICE 91: ep47-ep53 [Full text]  
• Alberti, H (2006). Inhaled insulin: evidence based or industry driven medicine?. BMJ 332: 1273-1273 [Full text]  
• Cernea, S., Kidron, M., Wohlgelernter, J., Modi, P., Raz, I. (2005). Dose-Response Relationship of Oral Insulin Spray in Healthy Subjects. Diabetes Care 28: 1353-1357 [Abstract] [Full text]  

Rapid Responses:

Read all Rapid Responses

Inhaling insulin

Rutger Nandorf, et al.
bmj.com, 21 May 2004 [Full text]

Inhaled Insulin: better option if found cost-effective without respiratory complications!

Dr.Naseem A. Qureshi MD, IMAPA, LMIPS
bmj.com, 22 May 2004 [Full text]

Inhaled insulin will never be a panacea.

Ellen H. Ullman
bmj.com, 23 May 2004 [Full text]

Other routes of Insulin delivery?

AK Al-Sheikhli
bmj.com, 25 May 2004 [Full text]

Poor quality of evidence

Vidhu Mayor
bmj.com, 25 May 2004 [Full text]

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