Insulin inhalant is just as effective as other treatments, study says

AUSTIN (KXAN) — People living with diabetes who depend on insulin now have a different option that doesn't require needles or pumps to regulate a person's blood sugar.

"People might think you are vaping," Dr. Tom Blevins said as he demonstrated how insulin in a powder form can be inhaled.

Blevins helped with a national study that looked at the effectiveness of Afrezza's inhalant. He said the treatment is one of the most rapid insulin treatments that can help the body in minutes compared to almost two hours with other treatments.

"It mimics what the body used to do. It gets in it quick. It gets out quick," the doctor said.

The study found this treatment is just as effective as injections or insulin pumps for people with type one or type two diabetes.

One of Blevins' patients was a participant in the study, but her case was a bit different. Meghan Rutledge combined injectable insulin with Afrezza's inhaled insulin. The type one diabetic was diagnosed 17 years ago when she was 13-years-old.

"For the first year that I was diagnosed, I was on multiple daily injections," Rutledge recalled about how her life changed when she got the news. "All of a sudden, I lost a lot of weight, I was constantly thirsty, and I was really tired and I thought, maybe this is what going through puberty is like."

Those are the symptoms for both types of diabetics. The difference between them is how the body produces or responds to insulin. Type one diabetics don't make insulin while people with type two are usually insulin resistant. Rutledge said the inhaler helps people live with diabetes a bit easier.

"It's such a difference maker in terms of being able to eat and to live what feels like a more normal life," Rutledge said. "But diabetes is not a one-size-fits-all disease."

Her experience during the study turned out to be different.

"I was actually one of the people in the study who did worse on the multiple daily injections and Afrezza. Because of the dosing of Afrezza, I needed a smaller increment of it in order to be able to stay in range better," she said.

Despite the experience, she still uses the inhalant today along with the insulin pump. The study showed that more than 50% of the people who took the inhalant expressed an interest to continue using it.

Blevins with Texas Diabetes and Endocrinology said the inhalant gets immediately into the bloodstream. He said the process is slower when people take insulin injections because it has to get broken down and absorbed.

Afrezza is not for everyone. Its website shows that people with chronic lung disease like asthma or COPD should not use it. As far as side effects, Blevins said people reported having coughs and sore throats. When it comes to health coverage, Blevins recommends people talk with their provider and if they deny it then contact your doctor to help with coverage assistance.

The inhalant was first approved in 2014 but Blevins said the focus of this study was to understand how to use it best. For Rutledge, she jumped at the chance when she was asked to be part of the study — if it meant making a difference.

"It's about having a lot of different options, so people can find what works for them, so that we can have everybody who has an option that they really like it works well for them," Rutledge said.