Insulin formulations
Insulin today is available in various formulations depending on the duration of their actions. Some insulin is short acting and other formulations are long acting. The short acting insulin is generally used to lower blood sugars immediately after a meal, e.g. after eating breakfast. The intermediate insulin works slowly and is often used to treat blood sugar elevations that occur in the middle of the night or late afternoon.
Rapid acting insulin: There are several varieties of short acting insulin known as Insulin lispro, Aspart and Glulisine. These insulin formulations work immediately after injection and peak in 1 hour. The action lasts for a couple of hours.
Regular acting is clear insulin that works 30 mins after the injection. It peaks in 2-3 hours and work for about 3-6 hours
Intermediate also known as NPH is cloudy insulin. It starts to work in 2-4 hours and lasts for at least 10-14 hours
Long action insulin products are Glarine and Detemir. These formulations start to work in about 2 hours and remain in the body for at least 20-24 hours.
In most newly diagnosed diabetics, the blood sugars are analyzed daily for a few weeks and the best combination of insulin is prescribed. In the beginning there are frequent dose adjustments required for almost all patients. Factors which affect insulin dosing include stress, exercise, infection, other medicines, and degree of hyperglycemia.
No comments:
Post a Comment