How much insulin do healthy people produce ?

[Spirit of Eden]

I currently use 12u Basal and 12-15u bolus throughout the day. I weigh 10st 4 (65 kilo) and 5'7 (1.7m) tall (male).

As a Type 1.5 I do produce insulin myself. I was just wondering what this might rise to if I was producing no insulin at all :?: Put another way, how much insulin does a normal person like me produce naturally

 

[diabetes51]

Unfortunately I do not think your question can be answered as blood sugar control is a highly complex process in the body. The amount of insulin being produced in the body of a "healthy" person is continually altering, depending on the persons age, sex, exercise, food intake, stress etc etc etc. This is the problem when it comes to producing an artificial pancreas, it is still not possible to replicate how the body takes all these factors into account and changes the amount of insulin needed - often from minute to minute.

If you took 100 teenagers - say age 15, and could detect how their bodies changed insulin production throughout a day, this would vary considerably from person to person. Girls may be different to boys due to hormonal differences, even if they all did the same activity the amounts of insulin would depend on whether they found that activity stressful, boring etc. Every individual responds differently, which is the problem in prescribing insulin. Unfortunately they cannot even say that x units of insulin should be given to a person that is aged y, we all differ based on our physical and psychological make up and our insulin needs may change throughout life.

So I do not believe it is possible for us to tell you how much insulin you would produce if "healthy", or how much you will require once you stop producing. The best person to discuss this with is probably your diabetes consultant or diabetes nurse specialist.

 

[phoenix]

!

It's quite interesting to find out about non diabetic insulin release but it isn't comparable.

Various trials were done on in normal weight healthy (mostly men) back in the 70s and 80s. Slightly different results.
1) average figure of 31 U daily in normal subjects eating three meals containing 1800 kcal, with a range from 24-37 U.
2) an average figure of 26 U daily in normal subjects eating 2249 kcal a day .
3) an average figure of 64 ± 7.6 U in men and 47 ± 6 U in women ingesting 3129 kcal and 2089
kcal, respectively.
4) an average figure of 22 U released into circulation of men eating 2250 cals a day (3 x750)
http://care.diabetesjournals.org/conten ... l.pdf+html
All these figures are for post hepatic insulin released into circulation. The pancreas actually produces about twice as much and half is exacted in the liver before it's released into circulation via the portal vein.

There must be some later studies, haven't searched for them (I had this one bookmarked)

A Brittanica article written by a Harvard Endocrinologist ( don't know when but he died in 2008) says that between 30 to 50 units in a day are released into circulation in healthy individuals.
http://www.britannica.com/nobelprize/article-9042512

As Injected insulin is injected into fat it doesn't get into circulation via the same route so can't really be compared.

The tables for post in John Walsh's books for post honeymoon T1s on an insulin pump (so may need less than on injections) have a range from 20u a day for a small (45g) fit person to 62 units for a 200lb sedentary person (or an adolescent) More insulin is required in pregnancy/stress/DKA.

I don't think it's as easy to estimate as this. It seems all T1s (not just LADAs) loose remaining natural insulin gradually . People can still have some of their own after 50+ years with T1 but the amount will vary. People may also develop some insulin resistance.
For myself I take a bit less than Walshes estimated amount for weight/activity level . ( I probably have LADA and have used insulin for 7.5years.

The Unit in these old papers is the equivalent of a an international unit today(ie the same) it was originally defined as

one unit (U) of insulin was set equal to the amount required to reduce the concentration of blood glucose in a fasting rabbit to 45 mg/dl (2.5 mmol/L

:lol: :lol:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Insulin_th ... sage_units

 

[noblehead]

Interesting Phoenix.

 

[Spirit of Eden]

Many thanks for the detailed and considered replies.

The thinking behind my question was a simple curiosity as to "how far down the road" I am with this condition. It's only the last 4 months that I have been using Insulin. Having just been ill for a week I am indeed learning how complex the whole condition is.

1,2 & 4 of phoenix's studies would suggest that I am injecting a significant amount of my requirement. Yes Interesting :thumbup: