Afrezza is a form of inhaled insulin
Mannkind Corporation
Insulin inhaled helps control blood sugar in children with type 1 diabetes as effectively as an injected version of the hormonal medication. The inhaled powder, called Afrezza, is already available for adults with type 1 or type 2 diabetes in the United States, and now its manufacturers are planning to request children’s approval.
Type 1 diabetes occurs when the body cannot do hypo-impressive hormonal insulin of blood. People with disease should take insulin as a medication every day, generally by injections. But blood sugar can still be difficult to control, especially after meals, when they tend to climb and after exercise, when they can fall.
Michael Haller at the University of Florida, who is at the Adrezza Advisory Council, and his colleagues wondered if inhaled insulin, which can improve blood sugar in adults by acting faster than injected insulin, also works in children. To find out, they recruited 230 people aged 4 to 17. Most participants had type 1 diabetes, but some had type 2 diabetes and required insulin to manage their condition.
All children have received basal insulin, which is injected once or twice a day to ensure that there is a low hormone basic level in the body at any time. Quick -acting insulin is generally required in addition to this before meals. In the 26 -week trial, some of the children received Afrezza as their rapidly -acting insulin, while others had an injectable insulin.
The researchers found that the two formulations also worked well to control blood sugar. The results were presented at the meeting of the American Diabetes Association in Chicago in June.
“The hypothesis is that it is a better insulin due to the method of administration and certainly for some patients with needle phobia, this can cause a lot of stress,” explains Haller. “But more importantly, it gives patients additional tools in their toolbox to manage a very complex disease.”
The inhaled version caused the cough more than that injected, but it dissipated once the participants got used to it. Afrezza is not suitable for anyone with long -term pulmonary problems, such as asthma.
Kathryn Sutter at the University of Tennessee Health Science Center in Memphis says that inhaled insulin can suit certain diabetic children, for example, those who forget to take the hormone before eating and therefore need a particularly rapid actor formula. But she thinks that most will probably remain in the injected formulation, which can be titled much more precisely, so is particularly useful for young children, who may need lower insulin quantities.
Mannkind Corporation, the company that manufactures Afrezza, plans to request regulatory approval for its use in children in the United States, explains Haller.
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