Teaching Patients How to Use Inhaled Insulin

Anne L. Peters, MD: Ever since I completed a research study using inhaled insulin, I found myself using it a lot more frequently. I realized that in doing this study, not only did I get used to it and how it worked in my patients, but I also developed a way to teach patients how to use it. I basically reduced the barriers to my using it, and now I use it often; therefore, I'm quite comfortable with it.

I wanted to share that experience with you and also have you learn from Mark Harmel, my diabetes educator, who is so good at teaching patients how to use it that it works quite effectively.

Inhaled insulin works as follows. You have a patient pick a dose; it comes in a cartridge of 4, 8, or 12 units. The patient takes the dose just before eating.

The insulin works very fast and it also goes away pretty quickly. It helps the patient really catch that first postprandial rise. If the patient's glucose level is high after eating, they can take another puff to bring down that blood glucose level. It doesn't cause the stacking phenomenon that you get with injected insulin.