photo courtesy of Health Pocket/Istock
The medical benefits of receiving blood-pressure medicine through a nasal spray have been controversial for years.
The first is that it’s not approved by the Food and Drug Administration; it requires prescription strength. The second is that the subcutaneous administration is undesirable since patients need to remove their clothing to get the medication into their bloodstream. For a type 1 diabetic, the problem becomes more acute; without insulin, blood sugars can plunge, prompting severe dehydration and thirst.
Last year, a British physician changed his tune, writing in a Lancet journal that she had found the nasal injection had no bad side effects, and said she was hopeful for the wider adoption of the new medical method.
The newest reason to hype the nasal-spray treatment? Type 1 diabetes, a form of the disease that’s 95 percent immune-related, can be induced through simple transdermal drug delivery. And the patient-reported factor in its favor has been that it’s simpler to use. From a medical perspective, one minor advantage is that it permits a greater number of patients to receive the medication, as the treatment must be prescribed by a qualified health care professional. It’s administered through a subcutaneous injection within seven to 10 minutes of applying the liquid to the back of the nose.
Click here to read the full story at The New York Times.
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