Archive for the ‘Insulin Injections’ Category

New Ultra Fast Acting Insulin Does Well in Clinical Trials

October 26, 2011 by · Leave a Comment
Filed under: Diabetes Control, Diabetes Medication, Diabetes Research and News, Insulin Injections 
Social Tagging: • • • • •
insulin syringe

Photo credit: Pzado

Halozyme Therapeutics, Inc., a San Diego-based pharmaceutical company, recently announced that its new “ultrafast” insulin, PH20, worked just as well as Humalog in two Phase 2 clinical trials. PH20 is an insulin analog, a type of insulin that is not produced by the human body, but functions the same way as the insulin that the body produces.

The injectable insulin analog was as effective as another insulin analog – Eli Lilly’s Humalog – at controlling blood sugar levels. In addition, PH20 was more effective than Humalog at controlling post-meal blood glucose levels. Rates of hypoglycemia were similar in PH20 insulin users, and the hypoglycemic episodes that did occur were generally mild and no more serious than those experienced by patients using Humalog.

Researchers studied the effects of the investigational diabetes medication on controlling blood sugar levels in two clinical trials conducted on about 220 participants.  One study involved patients with Type 1 diabetes, and the other involved patients with Type 2 diabetes. There was a 50 percent increase in the number of patients who regularly met guidelines for healthy post-meal blood glucose levels among those using PH20 insulin injections.

PH20 insulin is delivered using rHuPH20, or recombinant human hyaluronidase enzyme. Much of Halozyme’s work is based on the subcutaneous delivery of medications with rHuPH20, which the company says decreases costs, increases efficiency, and makes medication more convenient for patients.

Halozyme said that it will be pursuing worldwide distribution of PH20, suggesting that it may be partnering with a larger pharmaceutical manufacturer.

Novo Nordisk Files for Approval of Ultra Long Acting Insulin

October 5, 2011 by · Leave a Comment
Filed under: Diabetes Control, Diabetes Medication, Diabetes Research and News, Insulin Delivery, Insulin Injections, Long Acting Insulin 
Social Tagging: • • • •
Insulin

Insulin crystals

Novo Nordisk today announced the submission to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration of two new drug applications for ultra-long-acting insulin degludec and the co-formulation, insulin degludec/insulin aspart. These insulin analogs have been developed for the treatment of people with type 1 and type 2 diabetes.

“We are very excited about being able to file for the approval of insulin degludec and insulin degludec/insulin aspart now also in the US,” said Mads Krogsgaard Thomsen, Executive Vice President and Chief Science Officer at Novo Nordisk. “This is another significant milestone for Novo Nordisk and for the millions of people with diabetes who require insulin injections.”

As with the European applications submitted on September 26, the U.S. filings are based on results from the BEGIN™ and BOOST™ clinical trial programs, which involved nearly 10,000 type 1 and type 2 diabetes patients. Data from the trials have shown insulin degludec to lower blood glucose levels, while demonstrating a low rate of hypoglycemia, especially at night. Read the full article

Enhanced Long Acting Insulin to Challenge Lantus

October 4, 2011 by · 1 Comment
Filed under: Diabetes Medication, Insulin Injections, Long Acting Insulin 
Social Tagging: • • • • •

(From Bloomberg Businessweek) Drugs to treat diabetes, mostly injectable insulin, have become a $34 billion annual business crowded with manufacturers of relatively similar products. Novo Nordisk wants to stand out from the pack. Following the example of consumer product companies, the Danish drugmaker is betting that it can add product enhancements to basic insulin and command higher prices in wealthier nations.

Explains Chief Executive Officer Lars Sørensen, pounding his desk for emphasis: “A country like the US ought to be able to offer people the most modern insulins and not giving them Third World insulins.” Novo Nordisk, which gets half its $11.1 billion sales from insulin, this year is seeking U.S. and European regulatory approval for its newest treatment, degludec, in a bid to unseat Sanofi’s Lantus as the world’s best-selling diabetes medication.

Sørensen says degludec is “the fundamental part” of a strategy to boost Novo Nordisk’s sales by shifting patients in developed nations from older, cheaper types of insulin that must be taken just before mealtimes to more expensive chemically altered versions that are absorbed more slowly and act longer.

Degludec’s advantage is that it can be administered at any time, providing diabetes patients with greater flexibility, whereas Lantus insulin must be injected at the same time every day, although not necessarily at mealtimes. Trial results presented at a conference in Lisbon in September showed that degludec works as well as Lantus at controlling blood sugar.

To read the full article on Bloomberg Businessweek, >Click here.<

Is It Safe To Reuse An Insulin Syringe?

September 30, 2011 by · Leave a Comment
Filed under: Diabetes Medication, Insulin Delivery, Insulin Injections, Long Acting Insulin 
Social Tagging: • • • • •

Is it safe to reuse an insulin syringe? Bethany from California asked this question of Conditions Expert Dr. Otis Brawley on the health website CNN Health. Dr. Otis’ answer reads in part:

“Insulin syringes are expensive, and many patients want to reuse needles to save money. Many also reuse the lancets used to prick the skin and draw blood to measure blood sugar.

You are right that the reuse of insulin syringes and lancets is dangerous. A used needle can have bacteria from the skin in and on it. Bacteria can contaminate the bottle of insulin when reinserted into the bottle. The bottled insulin is a growth medium that can allow the bacteria to reproduce. Insulin is stored in a refrigerator to prevent bacterial growth. Read the full article

Woman Murders Husband with Massive Insulin Injection

September 29, 2011 by · Leave a Comment
Filed under: Diabetes Research and News, Insulin Injections, Uncategorized 
Social Tagging: • • •

The prosecutor in Alicante, Spain has requested a prison term of 29 years for a woman accused of murdering her husband with a lethal insulin dose.

Fifty-one-year-old Gregoria CS, a Spanish woman on diabetes medication since 1998, was responsible for administering medication to her husband, Juan Antonio GC, diagnosed with HIV.

Gregoria allegedly first dosed her husband with insulin on March 30th, 2007 after a family row, resulting in his admission to hospital in a hypoglycemic crisis. He remained in hospital for a month.

On a second occasion on June 28th, 2010, she injected her sleeping husband in the neck with a massive dose using three insulin pens, and when he woke up smothered his cries for help with a pillow.

The next morning the couple’s children raised the alarm when their father would not wake up. He was transferred to hospital in Elche with severe hypoglycemia and was stabilized, but remained in a vegetative state until his death on February 4th, 2011.

The woman had accused her husband of psychological abuse. The prosecutor’s requested term of imprisonment comprises 11 years for the first murder attempt and 18 years for the second.

From the online newspaper, RoundTownNews.

Overcoming Injection Anxiety

September 20, 2011 by · Leave a Comment
Filed under: Diabetes Control, Diabetes Medication, Insulin Delivery, Insulin Injections 
Social Tagging: • • • • •

Have you or someone close to you been newly diagnosed as an insulin dependent diabetic? Are you anxious about giving yourself or your dependent insulin injections? Many diabetics say that giving themselves an insulin injection is the hardest part of the condition.

Or perhaps you’re an experienced diabetic who hasn’t kept up to date on the latest insulin delivery methods like spring loaded syringes, insulin pens and insulin jet injectors. Skipping doses of diabetes medication can lead to poor blood sugar control and diabetes complications. WebMD feature writer Stephanie Watson offers some practical advice in an article titled Overcoming Objections to Injections.

Insulin Jet Injectors Evolving

September 12, 2011 by · Leave a Comment
Filed under: Diabetes Medication, Insulin Delivery, Insulin Injections 
Social Tagging: • • • • •

VitaJet Insulin Jet Injector

Despite lackluster success to date, the market research firm Kalorama is predicting that the worldwide market for jet injectors will double over the next five years. Jet injectors are a needleless drug delivery system that distribute a fine jet of medication under such high pressure that it is able to penetrate the skin.

“Needle-free devices have come a long way to the present state and are playing an increasingly important role in the novel drug delivery technology markets,” Kalorama drug delivery analyst Mary Anne Crandall wrote in a report titled Needle-Free Drug Delivery Markets. She predicts that their ease of use, safety and cost effectiveness, combined with evolving technology, will result in a future boom in jet injector sales. Read the full article

Does Using Long Acting Insulin Increase Cancer Risk?

September 6, 2011 by · Leave a Comment
Filed under: Diabetes Research and News, Insulin Delivery, Insulin Injections, Long Acting Insulin 
Social Tagging: • • • • •
long acting insulin

Lantus Long Acting Insulin Glargine

According to the FDA, five recent studies of a possible link between insulin glargine (marketed as Lantus long acting insulin) and the growth of cancerous cells have failed to shed more light on the subject. Calling the studies “inconclusive”, the FDA said it was continuing to work with the long acting insulin manufacturer, Sanofi-Aventus, to determine whether there is an increased risk of cancer for users of insulin glargine.

The concerns arose because Lantus’ ability to act as a long acting insulin arises from its prolonged interaction with the insulin-like growth factor-I receptor (IGF-IR). IGF-IR overactivity has been linked to many types of cancer. That begs the question – could long acting insulin glargine be associated with cancer because of its continual interfacing with IGF-IR?

While the debate about the possible cancer risk associated with long acting insulin continues, the American Diabetes Association, the American Association of Clinical Endocrinologists and two similar European governing bodies are reassuring insulin dependent diabetics that there is no need to change their insulin glargine treatment.

To read more about the controversial long-acting Lantus insulin clinical studies on diabeticlive.com, >CLICK HERE.<

How to Give an Insulin Injection

August 29, 2011 by · Leave a Comment
Filed under: Diabetes Control, Insulin Delivery, Insulin Injections 

Photo: Armin Kubelbeck

For those newly diagnosed insulin dependent diabetics, or those caring for someone newly diagnosed, WebMD has developed a six-step “Action Set” on giving an insulin injection to your self or to someone else.

The instructional guide, found online in the Diabetes Health Center, starts with basic information on insulin therapy, and then leads into detailed information on preparing an insulin dose and giving an insulin injection. The information links to illustrative slideshows demonstrating the techniques.

>CLICK HERE< to view the Action Set and slideshows on giving an insulin shot on WebMD.

Insulin Therapy Can Help Avoid Diabetic Neuropathy

May 19, 2011 by · 4 Comments
Filed under: Diabetes Control, Diabetic Neuropathy, Insulin Injections 
Social Tagging: •

Photo: Norman Desjardins

Diabetic neuropathy is a common complication of both type 1 and type 2 diabetes, especially in those who have had diabetes for some time. Diabetic neuropathy, or nerve pain, is nerve damage related to high blood sugar levels. Up to 70 percent of diabetics will develop some sort of neuropathy.

There are four types of diabetic neuropathy – peripheral, proximal, autonomic and focal. The symptoms will vary depending on the type you have, but the first signs are usually numbness, tingling and/or pain in the outer limbs – hands, feet, legs and arms.

Peripheral neuropathy is the most common type. Symptoms get worse at night, and include muscle pain and cramping, loss of sensitivity to temperature or pain, and increased sensitivity to touch. Uncontrolled peripheral neuropathy increases the risk of foot ulcers, infection, and even amputation.

The one and only way to treat diabetic neuropathy is to control your blood sugar levels. A major long-term study established that neuropathy was less common in those diabetics controlling their condition through insulin injections. For a comprehensive overview of diabetic neuropathy, including tips on how to prevent and control it, read The Complete Guide to Diabetic Neuropathy at endocrineweb.

« Older Entries