Insulin: What’s New?
Some good news for people with diabetes is the number of new diabetes medicines now on the market. New medicines mean better ways to manage diabetes and more choices for you and your health care provider. These medicines can help you more easily keep your blood sugar where you want it and offer more flexibility in your day to day life. insulin
Two new insulins are now available. These insulins better mimic how the body normally secretes insulin.
Before you got diabetes, your pancreas put out 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 the first basal (long-acting) insulin called Glargine. Glargine lasts for about 24 hours and provides the basal dose of insulin. Glargine is usually taken once a day at bedtime. Because it has no “peak,” it has a steadier rate of action. Diabetes oral medications or another rapid acting insulin are used before you eat to provide the “bolus“ of insulin that is needed for meals.
Aspart, is a new bolus (rapid-acting) insulin. Like Humalog, another rapid acting insulin, it works very quickly, it is taken 5-15 minutes before meals. Aspart is used as a bolus dose of insulin. One advantage of bolus insulins is that people who take them can learn to count carbohydrates and adjust their dose of insulin to match the amount of carbohydrates they eat.
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.
As scientists learn more about diabetes and its treatment, new therapies will become available. These new therapies may offer better treatment options and new hope for people with diabetes in the coming years.