Insulin Pills
This method has puzzled researchers for 40years since, so far, it has been impossible to develop a pill that can get past acidity and digestive enzymes in the stomach while keeping the insulin intact. Another problem is opening the intestinal membrane to insulin transport. Although no solution to these problems has been developed, researchers have not given up hope.
Nasal delivery would consist of the patient using a nasal spray to deliver insulin through their nose. The problems arising with this idea is that it requires much larger doses of insulin (about 100 units would be administered for 10 units to reach the patient's blood stream) which would increase costs. However, scientists are working to develop a chemical that would enhance the insulin transport to make it more effective. These chemicals can be problematic, however, because they cause irritation of the naval cavities. Finally, if the patient has a cold or runny nose it can change the efficiency of the delivery of insulin. It is apparent that much work needs to be done to improve the efficiency and reliability of the nasal delivery, but it does seem promising.
Inhaled Insulin
Perhaps one of the most promising new alternatives to injections is inhaling insulin. Because the lungs serve as a large surface area for the transport of insulin, this idea has had increasing popularity. At the moment, the main concern about inhaled insulin is the possibility of negative consequences from the transport of a growth protein through the lungs. Tests are currently being conducted to analyze these possible consequences and most have reported that the consequences are not grave. Inhaled insulin is the product that most companies have actively pursued products for with three main companies—Elli Lily, Nova Nordisk, and Pfizer—creating inhalers for insulin. Although the products were approved and put on the market for some time, their failure to be as effective and safe as insulin injections made the companies eventually withdraw their products from the market. Some negative consequences to the products were: side effects such as coughing and shortness of breath, exclusion of smokers and those with lung diseases for those allowed to use the inhalers, and inability to delivery precise insulin doses (the lowest dose was 3 units, making it very hard for precise control).Yes, it may seem as though all three of these methods—insulin pills, nasal delivery, and inhaled insulin—failed to attract patients and prove their effectiveness; however, it is important to remember that these are all in their early stages of development and that rapid growing technology is allowing scientists to explore these ideas in much better ways. This examination of possible alternatives to injected insulin is not meant to be seen as bleak, instead we should view these with hope to realize that the future holds limitless possibilities and will provide us with ideas that scientists back in the 1920s (when insulin was first developed) had never even dreamed of.
References:
http://www.diabetesnet.com/diabetes_treatments/insulin_inhaled.php#axzz16vlBeJoY
http://www.drugdevelopment-technology.com/projects/exubera/
http://diabetes.webmd.com/inhaled-insulin
