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Types of Insulin Available

Diabetes affects about 23.6 million adults and children in the United States. The basic treatment approach for diabetes is diet, exercise and medications. Medications used to treat diabetes are diabetic pills or insulin. Insulin is available in a variety of preparations to treat type 1 diabetes, some patients with type 2 diabetes and gestational diabetes. Insulins vary based on the time they start to take effect and how long they stay in the body.

  1. Types

    • Insulin is available in a variety of preparations that work at different peak times and offer different durations of action. They include rapid-acting insulin, short-acting insulin, intermediate-acting insulin and long-acting insulin. Injectable insulin is available in small vials and in cartridges called insulin pens. Exubera is a newer type of insulin that was approved by the FDA in January 2006 as a treatment for type 1 and type 2 diabetics.

    Rapid-Acting Insulin

    • Rapid-acting insulin--known as Lispro or Humalog--is the fastest-acting insulin. Rapid-acting insulin takes effect within five to fifteen minutes and it peaks within 60 minutes after it is administered; it is usually administered around meal time. All insulin works effectively to aid digestion by moving sugar from the blood into cell tissues for nutrition and energy. This also prevents hyperglycemia, or high levels of sugar in the blood.

    Short-Acting Insulin

    • Short-acting insulin is known as regular insulin that is administered around meal time. Short-acting insulin takes about 20 to 40 minutes after administration to establish its effects and the effects have a longer duration period of about six hours. Humulin S and Insuman Rapid are examples of short-acting insulins.

    Intermediate-Acting Insulins

    • Intermediate-acting insulin is cloudy--most other insulins are clear--because it's mixed with a substance for slow absorption into the body. NPH and Lente are intermediate-acting insulins. NPH takes two to four hours after administration to start working; it peaks four to 10 hours later and works for 10 to 16 hours. Lente takes four to 12 hours after administration to peak and lasts from 12 to 18 hours in the body.

    Long-Acting Insulin

    • Ultralente is a long-acting insulin that takes effect six to 10 hours after being administered, with a duration period of 20 hours or more in the body. Ultralente is commonly taken early in the morning or at bedtime. A very long-acting insulin is glargine; it takes effect within an hour after administration. Glargine maintains its effect consistently in the body for 24 hours.

    Considerations

    • A serious side effect of insulin is severe hypoglycemia or very low blood sugar. This is a serious medical emergency, some of the signs are weakness, confusion and sweating along with shakiness and anxiety.

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