More on Insulin Part 2
What is insulin?
Insulin is a hormone that controls blood glucose. Some people with diabetes need to take insulin injections to control their blood glucose. Insulin must be injected to work in your body.
How does insulin work in the body?
Food is broken down into a simple sugar (called glucose) that provides the energy your body needs for daily activities. Without insulin, the glucose cannot get into the body's cells for use as energy. When glucose
cannot get into the cells, blood glucose will rise. Too much glucose in the blood is called "high blood glucose" or diabetes. Normally, insulin is released into the blood by the pancreas (PAN-kree-us), an organ behind the stomach. When a person has diabetes, little or no insulin is made. Or, the insulin that is made does not work right.
What are the types of insulin?
There are four major types of insulin:
There are also premixed combinations of intermediate- and rapid-acting insulins. Insulin will stay in your body for different lengths of time, depending on the type of insulin you use. Your health care provider will prescribe the insulin that is best for you. You may need to take different types of insulin.
What does insulin look like?
Very rapid and rapid-acting insulins [lispro (Humalog), regular and velosulin] are clear. The intermediate and long-acting insulins (NPH, lente, ultralente and premixed) are cloudy. Do not use your clear insulin if it has "specks" in it or if it becomes cloudy. Do not use your cloudy insulin if it has lumps in it.
What to do when buying insulin?
Before you pay for your insulin at the pharmacy, always check the label to make sure it's the brand prescribed by your doctor. Using the wrong type can affect your blood glucose control. Then check the expiration date on the insulin box. The date must allow you enough time to use the whole bottle. To find out how long the medicine will last, divide the number of units in the bottle by the number of units you take each day.