Insulin

Recently Answered

• QWhat is intensive diabetes management?

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  A American Diabetes Association answered

  Taking multiple daily injections is sometimes called intensive diabetes management or tight control. The goal is to mimic the natural secretion of insulin from the pancreas as much as possible. The more often you inject insulin, the more opportunities you have to fine-tune your control. You also have more freedom and flexibility with your schedule and food choices.

  Intensive management means more than simply taking extra insulin. In fact, you may not increase the total amount of insulin you take at all. What may change is how and when you deliver it. Work with your healthcare team to decide when to take it and how much to take to effectively cover your meals and your background (basal) glucose levels.

• QWhen is insulin needed to treat type 2 diabetes?

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  A American Diabetes Association answered

  In people with type 2 diabetes the body is not making enough insulin or not using the insulin it makes properly. Because their bodies still make and release insulin, people with type 2 diabetes may be able to manage blood glucose by changing their eating and exercise habits. If adjustments to diet and exercise aren’t enough to control their blood glucose, oral diabetes medications or insulin may be prescribed. Although it is a common practice to try oral medications before insulin, you may start on insulin based on several factors, including the following:

  • How long you have had diabetes
  • How high your blood glucose level is
  • What other medicines you take
  • Your overall health

  Because oral medications seem to help the body use insulin better, some people take them along with insulin shots. The idea behind this "combination" therapy is to try to help insulin work better.

• QWhat determines how much insulin my body needs if I have diabetes?

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  A American Diabetes Association answered

  If you have diabetes, how much insulin your body needs can change. This depends on many things:

  • how much food you eat
  • what kind of food you eat
  • how much exercise you get
  • when you exercise versus when you take your medication
  • where you’re injecting insulin
  • the state of your health
  • how much stress you’re under

  Once you have established insulin doses for different meals, you can practice predicting what insulin doses will match your food intake. It usually takes practice to estimate your insulin need in terms of the amount of carbohydrate you eat and adjust for changes in food intake and exercise. The next step is to learn to calculate and take extra or a corrective dose of insulin when your blood glucose is higher than your target range. This is how you begin to fine-tune your insulin doses.

• QWhat is the goal of insulin therapy with type 1 diabetes?

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  A American Diabetes Association answered

  With type 1 diabetes, the pancreas no longer secretes insulin. The goal of insulin therapy is to mimic a normal pancreas as closely as possible. This often requires multiple daily injections of insulin or the use of an insulin pump and frequent blood glucose monitoring.

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• QWhat can increase insulin absorption after an injection?

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  A Intermountain Registered Dietitians , Nutrition & Dietetics, answered on behalf of Intermountain Healthcare

  How quickly insulin is absorbed (goes to work in your body) partly depends on what you do right after the injection. If you exercise the part of your body where you've just received an injection -- for example, you play tennis right after an injection in your serving arm -- you'll speed up the absorption rate. Similarly, if you go in a hot tub or take a warm bath or shower right after an injection, you'll also speed absorption. Be aware of this as you prepare to inject your insulin. Faster absorption may put you at risk for hypoglycemia. Most of the time, it's best to avoid both of these situations.
• QWhat is an insulin pump?

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  A Stacy Wiegman, PharmD , Pharmacy, answered

  An insulin pump is a small, computerized device about the size of a cellphone or deck of cards that delivers insulin continuously through a catheter to a person with diabetes. The pump can be worn on a belt loop or in a pocket. It replaces the need for insulin injections throughout the day.
  
  At mealtimes, the pump can give a quick dose of extra insulin, or a bolus. Using the pump allows closer control of blood sugar levels without as much risk of low blood sugar. It also requires more commitment to carbohydrate counting and to monitoring blood sugar at least four times a day. Pumps were first designed for people with type 1 diabetes, but more and more people with type 2 are using them.

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• QHow is fast-acting insulin used to treat diabetes?

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  A William Lee Dubois , Endocrinology Diabetes & Metabolism, answered

  Fast-acting insulins currently come in three varieties: Humalog, NovoLog, and Apidra. All three are made by different manufacturers, but are very similar. Certain individuals will often find that one or the other works better for them, but they are to a very large degree interchangeable.
  
  After injection, fast-acting insulins peak in two hours, and are gone from your system in 4-6 hours in most folks. They are designed to be taken with meals to knock down the excursion and help the body metabolize the carbs from the meal.
  
  This is one reason why the two-hour-after-you-eat blood sugar check is so important. You are halfway through the insulin’s action curve. If you are at…oh…say 118, should you be happy? Hell no! You’ve got two hours of insulin left. You’re gonna crash!

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• QHow should I store my insulin supply?

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  A American Diabetes Association answered

  Here are some tips for storing insulin:
  

  • Do not store your insulin near extreme heat or extreme cold.
  • Never store insulin in the freezer, direct sunlight, or in the glove compartment of a car.
  • Check the expiration date before using, and don't use any insulin beyond its expiration date.
  • Examine the bottle closely to make sure the insulin looks normal before you draw the insulin into the syringe.

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• QHow should I throw away used insulin needles?

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  A Intermountain Registered Dietitians , Nutrition & Dietetics, answered on behalf of Intermountain Healthcare

  Throw away used insulin needles. There are a couple of ways to do this:

  • Use a needle clipper to snip the needle off the syringe. The clipper safely stores the used needle, and you can throw away the rest of the syringe in the trash.
  • Throw away the whole syringe in a heavy container that the needles won't poke through -- like an empty coffee can or a plastic bleach container. Or, if local or state law requires it, use a special disposal container and keep it separate from the rest of your household garbage.

  Contact your garbage hauler, local government solid waste department, or public health department to get the disposal containers and service information for packaging and collection in your area.

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• QWhat are the most effective sites for injecting insulin?

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  A American Diabetes Association answered

  Insulin works best when injected into a layer of fat under the skin, above the muscle tissue. Several areas of the body have enough fat tissue under the skin for insulin injection. The abdomen, except for a 2-inch circle around the navel, is used most commonly. Another suitable area is the top and outer thighs. This is best used when you are in a sitting position. The backs of the upper arms, the hips, and the buttocks also work well. Some people, especially those with a large body size, have other options. For example, the lower back can also be a good injection site, as long as there is enough fat under the skin.