Afrezza Approved to Treat Diabetes

[Northerner]

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved Afrezza (insulin human) Inhalation Powder, a rapid-acting inhaled insulin to improve glycemic control in adults with diabetes mellitus. Afrezza is a rapid-acting inhaled insulin that is administered at the beginning of each meal, or within 20 minutes after starting a meal.

An estimated 25.8 million (18.8 million diagnosed and 7.0 million undiagnosed) people in the United States or approximately 8.3 percent of the population–have diabetes. Over time, high blood sugar levels can increase the risk for serious complications, including heart disease, blindness and nerve and kidney damage.

http://www.infozine.com/news/stories/op/storiesView/sid/59258/

Not for me thanks. Still don't understand the dosing strategy

 

[Redkite]

Don't fancy it either. No point risking possible lung damage in addition to all the complications he is already at risk of.

 

[Northerner]

Don't fancy it either. No point risking possible lung damage in addition to all the complications he is already at risk of.

The thing is, since this is so new how can they possibly know the risk of long-term problems? I suppose what may happen, particularly in the USA, is that they will promote it heavily so it gets a foothold, playing on the fears people have of injecting. Maybe it's because I'm an ex-smoker I'm really averse to deliberately putting things into my lungs that shouldn't be there!

 

[HOBIE]

Might be good for some folk 🙂

 

[Hanmillmum]

I wonder if you must have to eat "X" amount of carbs with each meal as I can't see either how you could dose adjust - possibly why it wasn't as effective for T1's in the study as for T2's who were taking it with oral diabetes meds

 

[AlisonM]

I still have serious questions over the delivery system too. I know from personal experience how hit and miss Asthma inhalers can be and that's never been overcome. With something like diabetes where delivering the precise amount of insulin is a key factor in good control, I cannot see how this can work well enough, if at all.

 

[robert@fm]

Don't fancy it either. No point risking possible lung damage in addition to all the complications he is already at risk of.

The thing is, since this is so new how can they possibly know the risk of long-term problems? I suppose what may happen, particularly in the USA, is that they will promote it heavily so it gets a foothold, playing on the fears people have of injecting. Maybe it's because I'm an ex-smoker I'm really averse to deliberately putting things into my lungs that shouldn't be there!

Although I hate injecting myself (I suffer the vicious circle of being afraid it might hurt, hence I tense up which makes it more likely to hurt), I have already suffered asthma (probably the forerunner of my OSA) due to passive smoking, and more recently damage to my voice (I can no longer speak much above a stage whisper); so I too doubt that anything administered by inhalation (unless it's to treat the lungs) is a good idea.

 

[DeusXM]

Apparently the owner of the company has personally spent $200m on this, so really, the story is "Billionaire invests $200m to prevent research into cure for diabetes". This is yet another worthless technology diverting money away from what we really need.

I wouldn't normally wish our condition on anyone but I hope Alfred E. Mann gets diabetes and every complication in the book - then maybe he'd learn how his piddly little inhaler isn't any help at all.

 

[Northerner]

I think I read somewhere that it would be able to be stored under more 'normal' conditions i.e. not needing refrigeration as liquid insulin does, and therefore would be better for hot 'emerging economies'. Whether it will be priced affordably for those who could take advantage of this fact, however, seems unlikely...

 

[DeusXM]

And there's also the small point that a cure for diabetes would mean it wouldn't matter at all whether or not you needed to keep your insulin chilled...