Insulin storage place
Definition of insulin
Insulin is a hormone secreted by the β cells of the islets of Langerhans in the pancreas. In a non-diabetic person, insulin is secreted continuously and in particular regulates the level of glucose (or blood sugar) in the blood.
Role and functioning of insulin
When you eat a meal, and especially when eating carbohydrates, your blood sugar rises, normally causing your body to secrete insulin. For someone without diabetes, blood sugar levels may rise slightly and then drop to a normal level, and the glucose is converted into stores and energy. This system does not work properly in people who develop diabetes.
If you are type 1 diabetic, you must inject insulin as soon as you are diagnosed with diabetes.
If you are type 2 diabetic, insulin therapy becomes necessary after a certain progression of the disease, when insulin is no longer produced in sufficient quantity by the pancreas (insulinopenia) despite oral treatments and lifestyle and dietary measures.
What are the different insulin families "provided"?
On the French market, there are around thirty insulins marketed by three pharmaceutical companies: Lilly, Novo Nordisk and Sanofi.
Insulins can be classified into 4 categories:
- rapid-acting insulins
- Loaned analogues
- Insulins delay
- Insulin mixtures
The different insulins are distinguished according to their duration and speed of action.
Insulin is supplied either in the form of injections (with a syringe or a pen), or with an insulin pump, a portable device (or more rarely "implantable"), intended to administer insulin continuously.
Almost all insulins exist in the form of:
- injection pens or syringes
- cartridges
- vials
The multiplicity of insulins and brands makes it possible to best adapt the treatment to each patient: clinical condition, age, weight, height, lifestyle, etc.
Insulin regimens
Whatever your insulin therapy regimen and your profile, the objective remains the same: to limit excessive variations in your blood sugar throughout the biological cycle, i.e. 24 hours with alternating day and night (nychthemeron) .
Different injection schedules (from 1 to 5 injections per day) may be prescribed by your doctor, depending on your type of diabetes, your insulin needs and your lifestyle.
In the case of a basal-bolus scheme, basal insulin, also called insulin for living, corresponds to one or two injections of slow-acting insulin. If you use an insulin pump, this is the basal rate.
Insulin for eating (prandial insulin) is distributed by a bolus, ie a rapid injection of insulin at mealtimes, depending on the number of carbohydrates ingested.
Correction insulin allows, thanks to a rapid injection of insulin, to correct your blood sugar level if it is too high.
Functional insulin therapy
It allows, if you are type 1 diabetic or insulin-requiring type 2 diabetic (under basal-bolus regimen or under insulin pump), to adjust your treatment to your lifestyle rather than the reverse. This involves trying to reproduce, through insulin injections, the natural insulin secretion of the pancreas. Hospital departments often offer functional insulin therapy stages. Ask your doctor.
