Treatment of Diabetes with Insulin and Medication
A diagnosis of diabetes can be life altering, and it usually has to be. The first thing that many people think about is the changes that they will have to make to their diet, but the second that is always thought about is insulin and medication that will be needed. For those with type one, insulin is something that they will have to get quite comfortable with because they will take it for the rest of their lives. Patients afflicted with type two often do not require insulin but will need to take medications to help their body more effectively use the glucose that is in their body.
Treatment with Insulin
Insulin is truly a miracle for people that have type one diabetes because it is their lifeline, literally. Without insulin people that suffer from type one diabetes can die within a matter of days. Before insulin diabetes was known as the wasting disease because people would literally waste away and die and there was no stopping the process. Insulin stops the process in its tracks so that people can continue to live normal lives.
There are several different types of insulin and new ones are coming onto the market every day. Some people take just one type of insulin while others combine two to achieve the desired results. It's important to understand that there are a handful of different insulin types to choose from including rapid acting, short acting, long acting, and ultra long acting. You may hear these types referred to in several different ways but this is generally the way that they are typed. Common types of insulin are:
- Homology and Novalog- These are your rapid acting insulin varieties and start working 15 minutes after injection, peak 30-90 minutes after injection, and lasts just three to five hours. This type of insulin allows people to eat right when they take their insulin instead of waiting for an hour as they had to before this type of insulin was created.
- Regular Insulin- This is your short acting insulin which starts working 30-60 minutes after injection, peaks 2-4 hours after injection, and lasts 6-8 hours.
- NPH and Lente- This is what is referred to as long acting insulin and is taken in conjunction with either rapid or short acting insulin. This type of insulin starts working 1-2 hours after injection, peaks 6-10 hours after injection, and lasts 12-24 hours.
- Ultralente and Lantus- These are ultra long lasting insulin types and are used with a variety of other insulin types. Ultralente starts working 4-6 hours and lasts 24-36 hours at a time with variable peaks dependent upon diet. Lantus starts working in about 1-2 hours and lasts 24 hours with no peaks.
It is important for patients with diabetes to know their exact type and brand of insulin. As you can see the affects of each type of insulin vary widely and it could be catastrophic to take the wrong type or dosage of the wrong type of insulin.
Insulin is usually taken so that the short acting insulin takes care of the meal you are about to eat and the long acting takes care of the meals (in the way of glucose control) that you will eat until the next injection. Many people take two injections per day and this will continue as long as they are stable while others take four injections per day. Injections are made into the skin, not the muscle, and the injection site must be rotated daily. Diabetes patients can choose to inject into the back of the arm, the stomach, the fleshy part of thighs, the buttocks, and the hips. If the injection sites are not rotated they can become inflamed, infected, sore, or can cause permanent discoloration or changes to the skin.
Other diabetes patients opt to receive insulin through a pump. An insulin pump is about the size of a pager or small cell phone and is clipped on the waste band of the pants or can be taped onto the skin. Insulin is kept in the pump and is delivered to the body through a tube that is inserted into the skin. The tube must be rotated around the body every three days. Even those that are on the pump must take an injection of insulin every one to three days.
Other Diabetes Medications
The only medications that people with type one diabetes will take for diabetes is insulin but those with type two or gestational diabetes may take some other oral medications. These medications are used to help the patient's body make more efficient use of the glucose that is in the blood as well as the insulin that the body is providing. These drugs can be used with or without insulin and generally provide a relief of high glucose or even low glucose symptoms associated with type two diabetes.
There are many different types of medications on the market for those who have type two diabetes and the list is growing every day. It can be difficult for patients to decide on their own which medications may or may not be right for them. Doctors and patients generally need to work together to find the best treatment regimen as the perfect mixture of drugs is different for each patient. Luckily with so many different products on the market every diabetes patient can find something that works for them.
Final Thoughts
While there are many different types of insulin and other medications on the market to treat diabetes it is important to remember that insulin is not a cure for this disease. Whether you have type one, type two, or gestational diabetes the treatment is not easy and is not something that you ever enjoy doing. While advances are being made every day in the treatment of diabetes it is important not to forget that these treatments are just that, treatments for the devastating and sometimes life altering symptoms of diabetes.