Insulin therapy is the most common type of medication for type-1 diabetes, but also used in type-2 diabetes treatment. Insulin acts as a replacement for or supplements your body’s insulin.
There are different types of insulin, which vary on how quickly they begin to work and how long they have an effect. It is important to closely monitor your sugar level, when administering insulin therapy.
| Short-acting insulin |
- Works overnight or throughout the day to keep blood sugar levels stable
- Injected before a meal. It starts working 30-60 minutes after you inject it and lasts 5-8 hours
- Regular insulin (Humulin and Novolin)
|
| Rapid-acting insulin |
- Begins working approximately 15 minutes after injection. Its effects can last between 3-4 hours. It’s often used before a meal
- Insulin aspart (NovoLog, FlexPen, Fiasp)
- Insulin glulisine (Apidra)
- Insulin lispro (Humalog)
|
| Intermediate-acting insulin |
- Starts working in 1-2 hours after injection, and its effects may last 14-16 hours
- Insulin isophane (Humulin N, Novolin N)
|
| Long-acting insulin |
- May not start working until about 2 hours after you inject it. Its effects can last up to 24 hours or longer
- Insulin degludec (Tresiba)
- Insulin detemir (Levemir)
- Insulin glargine (Lantus)
- Insulin glargine (Toujeo)
|
| Combination insulin |
- NovoLog Mix 70/30 (insulin aspart protamine-insulin aspart)
- Humalog Mix 75/25 (insulin lispro protamine-insulin lispro)
- Humalog Mix 50/50 (insulin lispro protamine-insulin lispro)
- Humulin 70/30 (human insulin NPH-human insulin regular)
- Novolin 70/30 (human insulin NPH-human insulin regular)
- Ryzodeg (insulin degludec-insulin aspart)
|
References:
https://www.betterhealth.vic.gov.au/health/conditionsandtreatments/diabetes-and-insulin
https://www.webmd.com/diabetes/diabetes-types-insulin
https://www.cdc.gov/diabetes/basics/type-1-types-of-insulin.html
