From the ArcaMax Publishing, Health & Fitness Newsletter:
http://www.arcamax.com/news/healthtips/s-572957-640797
INDIANAPOLIS (UPI) -- A clinical trial led by a U.S. hospital found
growth hormone can be delivered via inhalation to children,
researchers said.
The five-center study of 22 patients led by Riley Hospital for
Children in Indianapolis found that in a one-week period the inhaler
safely and effectively delivered growth hormone to the bloodstream of
children being treated for a deficiency in this small peptide hormone
usually administered by daily injections.
Dr. Emily Walvoord of the Indiana University School of Medicine, the
study's coordinating investigator, said the children -- as young as
age 6 and as old as age 16 -- reported they preferred the inhaler.
The researchers also found that when a drug is delivered via the
lungs, children have very different physiologies and drug absorption
rates than adults.
"We saw that children in the study needed higher doses of growth
hormone to attain the same blood level as the adults," Walvoord said
in a statement.
"This finding is an important one because it highlights that children
are not miniature adults and need specially tailored therapies,
particularly when considering the development of new drugs to be given
by inhalation into the lungs."
The study is published in the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology &
Metabolism.