Category for Insulin

Insulin

Since the wrong dose administered to the patient can lead to dangerous consequences, there is need for a lot of diabetes education and careful monitoring of blood sugar levels in insulin therapy. For instance, when a reduced amount of food is eaten, the insulin requirement has to be less too. An earlier correct dose may no longer be correct if comparatively less food goes into the body. The dose has become too much and can cause hypoglycaemia. So, the dose has to be adjusted accordingly. Also remember that exercise lessen the need for insulin as body cells take in more glucose. Glucose absorption into the cells depends upon insulin, and the amount of insulin needed depends upon the glucose present in the bloodstream. There are also many kind of insulin with different period of activity and times when their activity starts.

Since nobody can continuously monitor his blood glucose level and make adjustment in the infusion of insulin suitably, risk is always present with insulin therapy. Fortunately, some of the problems have been settled with advancing technology in the form of infusion pumps for insulin which are small and portable. These permit small quantities of insulin to be continuously sent to the body via the skin throughout the day, and can send bolus doses if too much food has been consumed or the levels of blood sugar is too high. This works the same way as the pancreas and the only weakness is that there is no constant feedback on blood sugar levels. So, the danger of injecting too much or too little still exists unless frequent checks are made.

A possible danger of insulin treatment is the discovery in studies that higher than usual insulin dosage to overcome hyperglycemia can cause blood capillary disease in rats, although microangiopathy is believed to result from hyperglycemia. While it is still unsure that the control of hyperglycemia lowers the risk for cardiovascular and diabetic macrovascular disease, there are evidences that greater attempts to bring levels of blood sugar to the target range can aggravate cardiovascular as well as cause diabetic death.