What should I know about insulin if I have diabetes?
-
RealAge answered:The questions to ask your doctor about insulin are:
1. What is the difference between rapid-, short-, intermediate-, and long-acting insulin?
2. Which type—or types—of insulin do you think is best for me right now? Could that change?
3. What are the potential side effects of my insulin type? Could any of the side effects be dangerous?
4. How might changes in my diet or exercise habits affect my insulin type, dose, or timing? Should I change my dose of insulin based on my blood sugar before I eat or based on what I'm about to eat?
5. Should my dose or timing change if I get sick or stressed out or if I gain weight?
6. What's the best way for me to prevent and test for ketoacidosis?
7. Will any of my vitamins, supplements, or other medications interact with my insulin?
8. What's the best way to store and care for my insulin? How do I know if my insulin has gone bad?
9. Can I safely reuse my syringes, or should I throw them away after one use?
10. What's the best injection site for my insulin? And if I develop scar tissue there, should I switch injection sites?The questions to ask your doctor about insulin are:1. What is the difference between rapid-, short-, intermediate-, and long-acting insulin?2. Which type—or types—of insulin do you think is best for me right now? Could that change? 3.... More -
Dr. Jack Merendino of The Best Life answered:All forms of insulin lower blood sugar levels, both by helping cells take up more glucose and, in the muscles and liver, by promoting the storage of that glucose as glycogen. In the liver, insulin also reduces the release of glucose into the blood plasma. In the past, insulin was extracted from animal pancreas tissue, but now virtually all insulin is made synthetically.
The available forms of insulin either are identical to human insulin or are insulin analogs, meaning that they have slight chemical changes designed to give them special properties. Insulins differ primarily in terms of how long after injection they reach their maximum, or peak, activity and their total duration of action. At present, all insulin available in the United States must be given by injection. Insulin is available in an individual form or premixed. Premixed insulins combine the intermediate-acting neutral protamine Hagedorn (NPH) insulin with a faster-acting insulin in the hope of providing the benefits of both types with a single injection.
All forms of insulin lower blood sugar levels, both by helping cells take up more glucose and, in the muscles and liver, by promoting the storage of that glucose as glycogen. In the liver, insulin also reduces the release of glucose into the blood... More
