This week's focus: Benefits of Analog Insulin
Dates: 10/31 - 11/2
Times:
Friday, 3:00pm-7:00pm
Saturday, 11:00am-3:00pm
Sunday, 12:00pm-4:00pm

Note: This brochure discusses the potential benefits of using analog insulin for treating diabetes. Ask your healthcare provider to learn more about your options and before making changes to your everyday self-care and disease management practices.

Why People Take Insulin

Diabetes interferes with the body’s ability to use insulin efficiently (a condition known as insulin resistance) or to produce enough naturally. When people are insulin deficient or resistant they are unable to process glucose, a sugar the body uses for energy, which causes glucose to accumulate in the blood and deprives cells of what they need to maintain health. To counteract these problems, people are often prescribed manufactured insulin.

Insulin is always used to treat type 1 (childhood-onset) diabetes, and sometimes taken by people with type 2 (adult-onset) diabetes. Today’s “analog” insulins are manufactured but still work in the body like the natural protein.

The body’s need for insulin and the effectiveness of individual treatment programs may be tracked by blood monitors and tools such as the A1C test, which help identify blood sugar patterns over time. Taking insulin and other medications, along with monitoring blood glucose, proper diet, and regular exercise, may enable people with diabetes more freedom to pursue their life goals and avoid or manage related diseases, such as heart disease, atherosclerosis, cataracts, retinopathy, stroke, poor wound healing, infections, and damage to the kidneys and nerves.

How People Use the A1C Test

People with diabetes regularly monitor their blood glucose, to ensure that it stays within safe levels. In addition to day-by-day testing, the A1C test is performed at least twice a year in order to check average blood glucose control for the previous three or four months. Since a person’s blood sugar may be higher on some days than on others, a doctor may not want to adjust the dose of insulin or other diabetes medicines unless the A1C test demonstrates a longer trend.

As blood sugar rises, A1C (a modified form of hemoglobin) also rises. For people without diabetes, normal A1C ranges between 4 and 6%. For people with diabetes, the American Diabetes Association recommends levels stay below 7%. There are several ways to test for A1C, so the ADA cautions that results may vary from lab to lab. Age and other unique biological considerations may impact a person’s A1C levels, so it is important that results are interpreted by your healthcare provider. A1C testing may help:

• Confirm the results seen in daily or other regular blood sugar monitoring
• Demonstrate whether a treatment plan is working or not
• Show the impact of healthy choices on diabetes control

What Insulins People Use

What types of insulins are there?

Insulins are categorized by the length of time a dose takes to reach the bloodstream and begin to lower blood sugar and how long that action continues to work. Products available to treat type 1 diabetes and type 2 diabetes that requires insulin include intermediate-acting, rapid or very-short-acting, short-acting, long-acting, and biphasic.

Which insulin is right for me? With the many forms available, the choice of which product or combination of products to use is determined by a doctor, based on the type and severity of diabetes, diet and exercise patterns, and other individual considerations.

What is insulin made from? Insulin was first gathered from cow and pig pancreases, but while these sources helped many people, they were not identical to human insulin and caused some side effects. Most recently, insulin analogs, which are slightly altered versions of human insulin, provide greater flexibility in controlling high blood sugar.

HOW PEOPLE TAKE INSULIN

In what ways is insulin administered? Some insulin preparations may be swallowed or inhaled, but it is most often injected under the skin. Insulin is measured in units and is standardized to contain 100 units of insulin in 1 ml of insulin fluid.

What kinds of injections are available?

• Needles - Most commonly, people inject insulin into an area of the body using a syringe with a small needle on the end. Insulin syringes come in different sizes. The size of the syringe should be the smallest that will hold the dose to be injected. Syringes are available with various thicknesses (gauges) of needles. The bigger the gauge number, the thinner the needle and the less the pain of guiding the needle under the skin before injection.
• Pen devices - These provide better insulin control than individual injections and may be a good choice for some people. Pumps are expensive and require attention to detail for desired results.

How should used injection materials be discarded? After use, syringes, needles, empty insulin vials, and other items used for insulin dosing should be discarded in a “sharps container.” Once sealed, these containers protect people who may come into contact with them from contamination or injury. Sharps containers must be disposed of according to legal and safety regulations.

Does insulin need special care? Insulin requires special handling and storage. Ask a pharmacist or certified diabetes educator for information about the best ways to preserve an insulin supply.

When do people take it? Ask your doctor or a certified diabetes educator about training before using insulin, as insulin use is tailored to a person’s individual needs and requires significant education and training to gain the benefits and avoid the side effects. People who have had insulin prescribed for diabetes treatment work with their healthcare providers to determine the best program for administration.

Many people with diabetes monitor their own blood sugar levels to know when and how much insulin they should take. For the best control, people with diabetes should use both primary types of monitoring: self-monitoring, which is usually done several times daily or several times weekly, and a lab analysis of your A1C levels, which may indicate whether changes in blood sugar patterns are short or long-term.

What other factors affect diabetes treatment with insulin?

• Food - Diet is an important factor in effective diabetes prevention and treatment. People using insulin should monitor their blood sugar carefully and talk with their doctor about the role of diet in diabetes management.
• Alcohol - As alcohol may increase the action of insulin, leading to hypoglycemia (low blood sugar), people using insulin should avoid alcohol.
• Tobacco - Smoking may decrease insulin activity, and it compounds the health problems associated with diabetes, so people using insulin are cautioned to avoid smoking.

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Disclaimer: The information in this page was prepared by Aisle7 for educational purposes only; it is not intended to replace the advice of a doctor. Health claims are based on scientific studies (human, animal, or in vitro), clinical experience, or traditional usage. The results reported may not necessarily occur in all individuals. Consult your doctor, practitioner, and/or pharmacist for any health problem and before using any supplements or before making any changes in prescribed medications, diet, or exercise habits. Aisle7, Walmart, and Pierce Promotions make no representations concerning the information contained in this article and disclaim any liability for such information and the decisions you make based on such information.