Different Types Of Insulin

Insulin is an important human hormone that is produced by the beta cells or the Islets of Langerhans in the pancreas and secreted into the human blood. Insulin is critical in maintaining the normal human metabolism including the regulation of blood glucose and fat levels. Presence of insulin results in lowering of glucose levels in the blood, absence of insulin results in reduced glucose uptake by the cells and increased usage of fat so as to generate energy.

In case of individuals suffering with Type I or Type II diabetes, the body is unable to secrete sufficient amounts of insulin or the cells do not respond to the insulin secreted by the pancreas. As a result, these individuals need to depend on an external source of insulin in the form of injections to maintain their normal metabolism and functions.

In the U.S., there are different types of insulin and there are more than 20 different varieties of commercial insulin. There are different factors that differentiate these types from each other. These include the species from which the insulin has been extracted, site of injection, onset, peak time and duration of activity. Each insulin type works at different rate and for different duration of time. Depending on these, commercially available insulin has been categorized into four basic types.

1. Rapid-acting insulin: Response generated by this is very rapid. Onset of insulin action is very quick, it has a really sharp peak and very short duration time. This insulin type is considered to be good for mealtime dosage.

2. Short-acting insulin: Although the action of this insulin is quick, it is not as instant as the rapid-acting types. Onset is slow, it has a sharp peak time that comes after several hours after taking the injection and it has a short duration time.

3. Intermediate and long-acting insulin: This is referred to as basal insulin. This is because this insulin has a very long duration period with a slow but sustained delivery of the drug.

4. Premixed insulin: This is usually a combination of intermediate-acting and short- or rapid-acting insulin.