What Is Oral Insulin?
Most people associate diabetes treatment with insulin shots to control blood sugar. Depending on the type of diabetes and age of onset, some people and especially children who have Type 1 diabetes will end up having tens of thousands of injections over a lifetime. There are now many companies developing injection alternatives like inhaled or transdermal insulin. The Holy Grail in this area may very well be finding a way to make oral insulin because the easiest way to control blood sugar for patients would probably be to take a pill. There are both positive and negative aspects to oral insulin. When going through the digestive system to the blood stream, the body may not absorb enough of the medication. Instead, the stomach and intestines quickly eliminate insulin’s sugar-regulating properties. For many years drug researchers have been trying to find a way around this, and there are several trials in progress, likely to be finished in the 2010s that might point the way toward developing
