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Take A Deep
Breath
NEW YORK, March 15, 2002
(CBS) There could be a new, better way of taking
medicines, and CBS News Medical Correspondent Elizabeth Kaledin reports
it's not a pill, a liquid, or -- best of all -- a shot. For more than 20 years, Adrienne Perutelli was a slave to the needle. "Typically I would have to take 5 or 6 shots a day," she said. Diagnosed with type 1 diabetes at age 21, Perutelli was dependent on insulin injections to keep her blood sugar stable, but they also cramped her style. "It was very inconvenient," she said, "especially if you were out in public." Now she's breathing easier, because she is breathing her insulin, as part of a clinical trial to see if inhalable insulin can work. "It's been a big improvement to everything —to my life, to how my blood sugar regulates," said Perutelli. "It's been great." Drug companies are eager to develop inhalable medicines. Since they go directly into the lungs they enter the blood stream rapidly. Not every medicine can be made inhalable, but the list of potential candidates is long: Drugs for pain management, contraceptives, vaccines, even antibiotics could be made easier to administer and more effective if delivered through the lungs. Much of the research is being done by a small company called Inhale. The main goal is to make medicine easier to take, said chief scientist Andy Clark. "Only about 40 percent of us actually take medicine as prescribed, so anything we can do to help get patients to take their medication at the correct time in the correct dose has got to be an advantage," he said. Pharmacists see the benefits and the pitfalls of the technology. "It may be difficult to determine the exact dose a patient needs," warned Mt. Sinai Hospital pharmacist Gina Galiendo. "It may be difficult to administer if the patient has a cold." Those problems will have to be ironed out as the technology develops. Inhalable insulin is not yet ready for public consumption, but so far it's working for Adrienne Perutelli. For her the future of medicine...is like a breath of fresh air. İMMII CBS Worldwide Inc., All Rights Reserved. |
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