Insulin Afrezza – Test Your knowledge

Insulin Afrezza is a novel Insulin. It is the fastest-acting insulin that has been FDA-approved since 2014.

It has the shortest duration of action which can be beneficial in patients who may develop hypoglycemia, however, the very short duration may be a disadvantage if the patient has gastroparesis or ingests a fatty meal.

How is Insulin Afrezza Administered?

Insulin Afrezza is administered via oral inhalation. The manufacturer provides two inhaler devices with each prescription that is to be used only for 15 days.

A cartridge device is placed inside the inhaler. Each cartridge is either colored blue or green and contains 4 and 8 units of Afrezza respectively.

The dosing of Insulin Afrezza is not very strictly followed. Treatment is initiated in a dose of 4 units before each meal. The dose is then increased in increments of 4 units if the post-meal blood sugars are not controlled.

Who should avoid Insulin Afrezza?

Because Insulin Afrezza is administered via oral inhalation, it may have variable glycemic effects in patients with pre-existing lung disease.

All patients who have a chronic cough, asthma, COPD, Bronchiectasis, or lung fibrosis should avoid using Afrezza.

Similarly, in acute settings, and especially in patients with acute chest problems such as pneumonia and acute bronchitis, it should be avoided.

The long-term use of Afrezza has been associated with Lung fibrosis and lung cancers.

Furthermore, it is also hypothesized to cause rapid growth of the tumor size in patients who have lung cancer. However, none of these associations and hypotheses have been proven.

Why Should You Use Insulin Afrezza?

Afrezza is a rapid-acting insulin. In fact, it is the fastest onset of action. Because of the fastest onset of action, it rapidly lowers blood glucose.

This avoids the long waiting time for normalizing blood glucose with the other insulins. Also, patients do not have to wait before starting a meal after the administration of Afrezza.

The chances of hypoglycemia are very low as it only covers the glycemic excursions occurring with each meal. This is because of its short duration of action.

Patients can not totally avoid injections but the number of injections is reduced to only one injection per day. It is much cheaper than an insulin pump and easy to use.

What are the disadvantages of Insulin Afrezza?

Since it is novel insulin, patients are still reluctant to use it because of its doubtful long-term safety profile. It can induce terrible cough and acute bronchospasm, especially in patients who are asthmatic or have COPD.

Because of its very short duration of action, it may not cover mealtime hyperglycemia in patients who have diabetic gastroparesis or those who ingest a heavy meal.

See details of Insulin Afrezza here