Insulin Information
Insulin information and guides
Inside the pancreas, beta cells make the hormone insulin. With each meal, beta cells release insulin to help the body use or store the glucose it gets from food.
What you should know about insulin
- Diabetes and injecting insulin
- Insulin site rotation
- How to inject insulin
- Diabetes and insulin delivery devices
- Insulin injection aids
- Insulin jet injectors
- Insulin inhalers
- Insulin pills
- Diabetes and insulin pens
- Insulin pen needles
- Insulin facts
- Insulin types
- Insulin prescription
- Insulin side effects
- Insulin overdosage
- Diabetes lancets and lancing
- Diabetes lancing devices
- Insulin pumps
- Wearing and using an insulin pump
- How insulin pumps work and terminology
- Getting an insulin pump
- Diabetes and Metformin
- What is a Bolus Wizard
- Multiple dose injection therapy
- Needle free injecting
- Blood sugar converter (for UK to US measurements and vice versa)
In people with Type 1 diabetes, the pancreas no longer makes insulin. The beta cells have been destroyed. They need insulin shots to use glucose from meals.
People with Type 2 diabetes make insulin, but their bodies don’t respond well to it. Some people with Type 2 diabetes need diabetes pills or insulin shots to help their bodies use glucose for energy.
Four types of insulin
There are 4 types of insulin, based on how soon the insulin starts working (onset), when it works the hardest (peak time) and how long it lasts in your body (duration).
However, each person responds to insulin in his or her own way. That is why onset, peak time, and duration are given as ranges.
Types of insulin
- Rapid-acting insulin (Lispro) reaches the blood within 15 minutes after injection. It peaks 30 to 90 minutes later and may last as long as 5 hours.
- Short-acting (regular) insulin usually reaches the blood within 30 minutes after injection. It peaks 2 to 4 hours later and stays in the blood for about 4 to 8 hours.
- Intermediate-acting (NPH and lente) insulins reach the blood 2 to 6 hours after injection. They peak 4 to 14 hours later and stay in the blood for about 14 to 20 hours.
- Long-acting (ultralente) insulin takes 6 to 14 hours to start working. It has no peak or a very small peak 10 to 16 hours after injection. It stays in the blood between 20 and 24 hours.
Some insulins come mixed together. For example, you can buy regular and NPH insulins already mixed in one bottle. They make it easier to inject two kinds of insulin at the same time. However, you can’t adjust the amount of one insulin without also changing how much you get of the other insulin.
Strength
Insulins come dissolved in liquids at different strengths. Most people use U-100 insulin. This means it has 100 units of insulin per milliliter (ml) of fluid. Be sure that the syringe you use matches the insulin strength. U-100 insulin needs a U-100 syringe. In Europe and Latin America, U-40 insulin is also used. If you’re outside the United States, be certain to match your insulin strength with the correct size syringe.
Insulin was first isolated and identified in 1921 by two doctors in Canada; Banting and Best.
Initially, insulin used for controlling human diabetes came from cows and pigs. It was extracted from their pancreases. In fact, some people still use animal insulins. There is a belief system that it basically softer and doesn't work in the same way as the so called human insulins which are more just manufactured more than they're 'human'. Ultimately, very few people are put onto animal insulins at the start these days, they are pretty much put onto human insulins and with the blood testing and the multiple injection regime most people fair very well on it.
Additives
All insulins have added ingredients to keep them fresh and help them work better. Intermediate- and long-acting insulins also have ingredients to make them act longer. Today’s insulins are very pure. Allergic reactions are rare.
Storage and safety
- Using cold insulin can make your shot more painful.
- You can keep the bottle of insulin you are currently using at room temperature or warm the bottle by gently rolling it between your hands before you fill the syringe.
- If you buy more than one bottle of insulin at a time, store the extra bottles in the refrigerator until you start to use them.
- Never store insulin at very cold or very hot temperatures. Extreme temperatures destroy insulin.
- Do not put your insulin in the freezer or in direct sunlight. Insulin may lose some potency if the bottle has been opened for more than 30 days.
- Look at the bottle closely to make sure the insulin looks normal. If you use regular, it should be perfectly clear - no floating pieces or color.
- Do not use insulin past the expiration date.
