What's New in Insulin?
One of the good things that is happening for people with diabetes is the number of new diabetes medicines now on the market. New medicines mean better ways to treat diabetes and more choices for you and your provider. These medicines can help you keep your blood sugar where you want it more easily and offer more flexibility in your day to day life.
Two new insulins have joined the list of medicines for people with diabetes this year. These insulins offer ways to give insulin that are closer to how the body normally makes insulin.
Before you got diabetes, your pancreas made some insulin all of the time. This is called "basal" insulin. This steady stream of insulin kept your blood sugar in the normal range throughout the day and night. Your body also put out a burst of insulin whenever your blood sugar started to go too high, for example when you ate. This is called a "bolus" of insulin.
One of the new insulins is a long-acting insulin called glargine or Lantus made by Aventis. Glargine lasts for about 24 hours and provides the basal dose of insulin. Glargine is usually taken once a day at bedtime. Pills or another shorter acting insulin are used before you eat to provide the "bolus" of insulin that is needed for meals. Because it has no "peak," it has a steadier rate of action.
Aspart or Novolog made by Novo Nordisk is a new rapid-acting insulin. Because it works very quickly, it is taken 5-15 minutes before meals. Aspart is used as a bolus dose of insulin. Other insulins already on the market that are used for bolus doses are regular and lispro or Humalog. One advantage of bolus insulins is that people who take them can learn to count carbohydrates and adjust their dose of insulin to match what they eat, rather than eating to match the insulin dose.
Both glargine and aspart are insulin analogs. They are made by slightly changing the insulin molecule so that it works a bit differently. These insulins need to be taken by injection using a syringe or pens. Inhaled insulins have been in the news, and it is anticipated that they will be on the market in about 2-3 years.
As scientists learn more about diabetes and its treatment, more new therapies will become available * and new therapies offer new hope for people with diabetes.