Emerging insulin therapies for diabetes

The basic approach to insulin therapy, by way of SC injection, has not fundamentally changed in the almost 80 years since the first injection was given. However, daily injections are the biggest deterrent to insulin use. Oral and inhaled insulin delivery systems, if approved, may represent the greatest breakthrough in diabetes mellitus management since therapy began, and several studies looking at these new options were presented recently at the 61st Annual Scientific Sessions of the American Diabetes Association [Philadelphia, US; June 2001].