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Insulin can help manage your diabetes effectively. Your physician may suggest different kinds of insulin medication to you.
Insulin should only be administered subcutaneously and directly into your bloodstream via injection; otherwise it would be broken down by your digestive system before doing any good.
Type 1
Insulin is produced in the pancreas by special beta cells. When someone with diabetes eats, these beta cells release insulin into their bloodstream to use up glucose from food and maintain the target blood sugar level. People living with Type 1 diabetes must inject daily doses of insulin injection to stay alive and manage their condition – otherwise serious life-threatening complications could arise that require daily injections of the medication.
Insulin injections for Type 1 diabetes typically are administered subcutaneously in the abdomen – known as subcutaneous layer. When administered this way, insulin is more quickly absorbed by the body compared with when injected elsewhere such as upper arms or buttocks; additionally, abdominal injections provide cover against potential bruises that might appear from them.
People living with type 1 diabetes may require multiple forms of insulin to achieve around-the-clock blood sugar control, depending on factors like their weight, diet, activity level and health status. Their specific requirements will change over time as their weight, diet and activity change as well as health status changes.
People living with type 1 diabetes can choose to use an insulin pump that injects their medicine subcutaneously using a cannula inserted in a fat area such as their abdomen or buttocks. Or they can take pills containing insulin instead.
Type 2
Insulin helps move sugar from the blood into other body tissues to be used as energy, while stopping liver from producing more sugar. Produced in pancreatic beta cells, insulin can be given via injection (typically under the skin) daily before meals, either into belly, thighs or arms.
Different insulin varieties can be divided into categories based on how fast they work, when they peak and for how long. Diabetics will need a combination of various types of insulin in order to meet all their insulin needs, with daily dosage changes depending on individual circumstances; some trial-and-error may be required in order to find their ideal doses and schedule.
People living with Type 2 diabetes often require two or more injections of different kinds of insulin per day in addition to other medication to manage their condition, according to research studies. Studies indicate that taking three or four daily injections could decrease eye, kidney, and nerve damage caused by high blood sugar.
Human insulin injections can be purchased both as vials and prefilled dosing pens, with both needing to be mixed before use; your doctor will indicate how much to draw into a syringe from each vial; it must always be one marked specifically for that type of insulin and never shared between users; each needle or syringe must be discarded after each use.
Short-acting
Insulin is produced by beta cells inside of your pancreas’ Islets of Langerhans. These beta cells produce insulin to help manage blood glucose levels and it’s commonly found produced from beef or pork sources in America; human made synthetic insulin is most often used. Insulin may be administered subcutaneously or via an insulin pump and works by stopping glucose from entering the bloodstream through digestion.
Short-acting insulin starts working quickly to keep blood glucose from rising too high when you eat carbohydrates, also known as mealtime insulin. Taken prior to meals or immediately prior to sitting down to eat, short-acting insulin combines well with other forms of insulin for your daily needs.
Some brands of short-acting insulin may vary in terms of their onset, peak time and duration; check with your physician to be sure you are using the most suitable brand of short-acting insulin for your type of diabetes.
Rapid-acting insulin analogues such as aspart, lispro and glulisine have an onset time between 15-30 minutes and peak effect within 1 to 2 hours; their duration 4-6 hours. Although structural changes enable them to enter your body faster and more effectively.
Long-acting
Insulin is a vital hormone needed by those living with diabetes to help manage their blood sugar. Understanding its different varieties will allow you to select and administer it effectively based on your specific needs, with categories based on how quickly they start working, when their effects peak and how long they continue lowering your blood sugar.
Insulin Aspart, Lispro and Humalog are fast-acting insulins which typically begin working within 15 minutes after injection and reach their peak effect about an hour later – these treatments should typically be used prior to meals for optimal coverage of your needs.
Long-acting insulins such as degludec and detemir typically take much longer to start working but can help manage blood sugar over a 24 hour period, helping you reduce how frequently short-acting insulin needs to be dosed and prevent overdosing. They may be administered subcutaneously in the abdomen, upper arms or thighs using syringes or insulin pens with prefilled doses of insulin.
Intermediate-acting
Insulin should be administered subcutaneously (under the skin). To effectively utilize different insulins and understand their duration and effect on meal planning, activities and test times.
Rapid-acting insulin typically begins lowering blood sugar 30 minutes after being injected and can last up to 6 hours before reaching its maximum effect. This type of insulin should generally be used prior to meals and in conjunction with intermediate or long-acting insulins to manage your blood sugar between meals and overnight.
Intermediate-acting or basal insulins typically take several hours to reach their full effect and should be used throughout the day as needed, often being combined with fast-acting insulin for use as needed.
Long-acting insulins like Lantus (glargine) or Toujeo (glargine), with their steady release of insulin over 24 hours without any peak, such as Lantus or Toujeo, offer an easy and steady solution for managing blood sugar between meals and overnight. Long-acting insulins should typically be injected once or twice daily and combined with intermediate-acting insulins to manage your blood sugar. Studies have demonstrated this decrease the risk of nocturnal hypoglycaemia compared with short or rapid-acting insulin; however most studies were not double blind due to milky consistency which made applying blinded design more complicated.
Combination
Your health care provider will discuss the pros and cons of each type to help you select the most effective ones for you. Insulin also comes in various strengths (or concentrations); U-100 regular contains 100 units per millilitre while other strengths such as U-200, 300 and 500 are five times stronger.
Insulin works differently depending on where it’s injected; abdominal areas absorb insulin quickly while legs and buttocks absorb it more slowly. Therefore, rotating injection sites is crucial in order to avoid irritation and infection.
When injecting insulin, your healthcare provider will show you how to accurately measure and draw up an individualized dosage before injecting the medicine subcutaneously into fatty tissue beneath the skin known as subcutaneous tissue.
Insulin is absorbed by the bloodstream at different rates depending on where and how much fat is located under your skin. The chart below details various insulins’ onset, peak time and duration of action; using this data you can match up a fast-acting insulin before eating with an intermediate or long-acting one postmeal for maximum effectiveness and avoid low blood sugar reactions.
