Introduction
Insulin therapy is must in type 1 patients who are insulin dependent. Their body is unable to produce any insulin due to destruction of pancreatic beta cells. So type 1 patients are treated with insulin injection in a regular interval basis. However, even type 2 diabetic patients may require insulin injection in two cases:
- Excessively increased blood sugar level
- Defective insulin production and secretion
Source of Insulin
There are mainly three sources of insulin that is administered to a diabetic patient. These sources are:
- Human Insulin : Human insulin is best insulin to be administered in a human being. This insulin is taken from a normal healthy person and administered to a diabetic patient. Human insulin is expensive because everybody needs insulin for their own.
- Bovine insulin : Not as good quality insulin as human insulin but easily available and inexpensive. This insulin is used by mass population below poverty level.
- Bacteria produced insulin: This type of insulin is produced genetically by recombinant DNA technology from a bacteria. This is a good source of insulin now and may be will be the number one source of insulin in near future.
Types of insulin according to duration of action
According to duration of action, there are two types of insulin:
- Short Acting Insulin : This insulin acts shortly and should be given with a regular short interval
- Long Acting Insulin : Duration of this insulin is comparatively long. So it is administered once or twice a day.
Route of Insulin Administration
Subcutaneous route or 'under the skin' route has been proven as the most convenient route of insulin administration. Insulin injection by any other route such as intravenous, or intramuscular or oral route result in wastage or deactivation of insulin.
See this video to learn more about insulin administration in the treatment of diabetes:
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