4 insulin treatments being developed right now

How diabetics get their insulin has been a question for as long as the disease has been treated. Here are some insulin delivery systems, some that exist and some that are just right around the corner, and how they could help you regulate your diabetes.

• The size of a large ballpoint pen, these increasingly popular devices hold your insulin. Just screw a needle into one end, set your dose and press a button to inject.
• Some are disposable, others can be refilled and all of them are easy to carry with you.
• They can also save you serious money.
• When buying a pen, make sure it's compatible with the type of insulin you use.
• Some pens are more precise than others. Kids, or anyone who's extra-sensitive to insulin, should look for one that can deliver a dose measured to the half-unit.

• Researchers are exploring oral insulin. But because the hormone is naturally broken down during digestion before it reaches the bloodstream, there have been some roadblocks.
• Researchers are exploring one method: encasing pills in a resin or plastic coating that breaks down only after the drug reaches the bloodstream.
• Another tactic is to avoid the gastrointestinal tract altogether by using a spray or patch that allows insulin to be absorbed through the cheek.

• In the coming decades, we may see the prospect of loading insulin into designer molecules called nanoshells — tiny hollow spheres made of silica and coated with gold.
• On their injection into the body, a hand-held infrared laser would be used to heat the nanoshells, causing them to release small amounts of insulin.
• Theoretically, each nanoshell injection could provide needle-free insulin for months.

• Right now, the Juvenile Diabetes Research Fund is aiding the development of a glucose-responsive insulin. This new drug would mean a brand new day for people with type 1 diabetes.
• Basically, the drug would take on the work of a healthy pancreas. It would deliver insulin throughout the body, exactly as needed and in the perfect amounts.
• Researchers plan that you'd take the drug once a day or even less.
• You wouldn't have to test your glucose, count your carbohydrates or factor your exercise into the standard daily amount you take.
• But don't expect this drug tomorrow. Researchers are still dealing with considerable challenges.

Getting insulin is the primary challenge of any diabetic, but new and exciting technology could make this disease much more manageable. It's important to keep up with the research, but also be patient, many of these experiments are decades away from human trials.