Insulin

Insulin pens are a great way to inject insulin. They are convenient and easy to carry. Keeping track of the last time you injected insulin is what's been missing from insulin pens for a long time. Of course, we should be jotting down our times and amounts in a logbook to avoid double injections. Insulcheck has created an insulin pen attachment that tracks when you last injected insulin from your pen.

We've been talking about smart insulin pens for years. A smart pen that includes some of the helpful features found in today's smart pumps would help non-pump patients increase the success of their diabetes management greatly. Pendiq is a new digital insulin pen manufactured by Diamesco Co, that was announced at the European Association for the Study of Diabetes (EASD) meeting in Lisbon in September of 2011.

Timesulin is a cap for insulin pens that shows users how long it's been since their last insulin injection. It is easy to forget when you last took a shot. Was it 10 minutes ago? An hour? 3 hours? Missing the shot can results in blood sugar highs, while taking an extra can result in blood sugar lows. Timesulin helps avoid these mistakes.

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Current insulin pens are more convenient than injections with syringes, but they could do so much more. They could be designed like today's smart insulin pumps, and could even be designed to be far more intelligent so they really improve control.

Normally, about half of the day's insulin is released as a relatively steady background or basal delivery. When carbs are eaten, a spike or bolus of insulin release occurs from the pancreas. In attempting to mimic the pancreas with a basal/bolus approach that better matches insulin to need, a convenient and precise way to deliver insulin can be very helpful.

Another reason to split is that many people don’t have consistent schedules where they give their one dose of Lantus at the same time every day. If someone gives Levemir at bedtime, but goes to bed later on Fridays and Saturdays, a gap in coverage will occur on Friday night into Saturday morning, and some doubling of action occurs when they return to their usual schedule. Splitting the dose greatly minimizes these timing issues even if the two split doses are not given at exactly the same time of day.

By John Walsh, PA, CDE and Ruth Roberts, MA
Authors of Pumping Insulin and Using Insulin

One of the skin's primary roles is to provide protection against infection and physical damage. This barrier is so effective that it prevents many pharmaceutical compounds from crossing into the bloodstream. To overcome this defense, both passive and active drug transport across the skin (transdermal) barrier are being developed.

The development of an oral form of insulin has been a work in progress for many years. Many companies have decided to look for an oral form of insulin as this will help patients become more compliant with insulin therapy. They would be easier to carry around and simpler and more discreet than injecting it, so patients would be able to maintain more privacy about their need to take insulin.

by John Walsh, P.A., C.D.E.

The FDA approved the first inhaled version of insulin called Exubera from Pfizer Inc. in January 2006. It became available in September 2006, 84 years after the first insulin injections were given. By October 2007, Pfizer announced it would be dropping Exubera, citing that the drug had failed to gain the acceptance of patients and physicians