Why Is Insulin Only Given by Injection and Not as an Oral

question 53

Multiple Choice

Why is insulin only given by injection and not as an oral drug?

• A) Injected insulin works faster than oral drugs to lower blood glucose levels.
• B) Insulin is a small protein that is destroyed by stomach acids and intestinal enzymes.
• C) Insulin is a "high-alert drug" and could more easily be abused if it were available as an oral agent.
• D) Oral insulin has a high "first pass loss" rate in the liver and would require very high dosages to be effective.

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Definitions:

Permeability

The measure of how easily fluids can pass through a material's pore spaces or fractures.

Loosely Cemented Gravel

A type of sedimentary deposit composed of gravel particles that are held together by a weak cementing material.

Vesicular Volcanic Rock

Rock that contains small cavities or vesicles, formed by gas bubbles trapped during volcanic solidification.

Unsaturated Zone

The layer of the earth's crust above the water table where the pore spaces are not fully filled with water.