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Question asked by: Justin (12) ---NSW

Question: Hi, I’m 12 years old and have had diabetes for about 10 years. I’ve heard about an insulin spray they are working on and might be bringing out in America. Would u have any info on this? thanx

Answer:

Hi Justin, thanks for writing to the question forum.

You might be interested to know, that the first studies into inhaled insulin started in 1925!! However, most of the research has been carried out since the year 2000. So far more than 3500 people with diabetes have tried the inhaled insulin, mostly adults.

The inhaled insulin that has been tried so far is a short acting insulin (like Novorapid but faster). This means you still need long acting insulin every day and some people on the trial found that they needed extra short acting insulin injections as well. This is because the inhaled insulin seems to be absorbed differently in different people. One of the other issues has been the size of the inhaler, which is very bulky and not as easy to carry around as syringes or pens.

Before any new product is available, it has to be approved by health authorities. Applications for approval have been made in America and Europe and it is hoped it will be available in these countries within a year. When new products first come on to the market, they may not be recommended for children until more research is done about long term side effects - talk to your diabetes team if you would like to know more. For the latest info on availability in the US and Australia, click on the link below.

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