More good news on the finding-progressively-less-invasive-approaches front. This study indicates that inhaled insulin can facilitate people’s willingness to institute needed therapy for diabetes. They say that many people actually put off for years, sometimes as much as 5 years, starting to take needed insulin–because of fear of needles, denial, or whatever reasons–and thus put themselves at far greater risk of developing those serious complications that come along with uncontrolled blood sugar.

Inhaled insulin shows similar levels of effectiveness as subcutaneous insulin, and can be extra helpful when used in combination with oral antidiabetic agents. And while it can cause a slight decline in lung function, that’s said to be minor and reversible. Unfortunately, side effects are a fact of life with so many treatments. Prolonged use of some inhaled drugs for asthma is known to cause early cataracts. Let’s hope this exciting discovery for diabetics doesn’t reveal worse problems with long-term use.