Insulin is an important hormone for your body. When the body does not produce enough insulin or when your body fails to reach adequately to the hormone, the blood glucose levels in the body increase to a considerable extent. This, in turn, gives rise to a number of bodily complications. Therefore, there are external sources through which you need to take the hormone in case your body is not getting enough of it naturally. In this article, let us understand some of the main types of insulin.

The following are the different types of the hormone

Long-Acting Insulin

Taken once or a couple of times during the day, this type of insulin helps in stabilizing the elevated levels of blood glucose. Some of the brands under which this type of insulin can be found include the Lantus, Levemir, amongst others. This insulin, as the name suggests, can take up to four hours to reach the blood. It is also combined with the below-mentioned rapid-acting insulin.

Rapid-Acting Insulin

This type of insulin is usually taken by the diabetes patients just before eating a meal. The insulin takes around 10 to 30 minutes to become a part of the blood. The main purpose of taking this insulin is to prevent the blood glucose from rising when you eat food. Some of the brands under which you can find this type of insulin includes Apidra, Humalog, as well as Novolog, etc.

Short-Acting Insulin

This type of insulin is also known as Regular insulin and it takes around 30 minutes to reach your bloodstream. The insulin is taken before a meal which helps to reduce the increased level of blood glucose. After you eat, the blood glucose tends to increase and that is why you need to take insulin before the meal.Some of the brands under which you can find this type of insulin includes Humulin R, Novolin R, amongst others.

Intermediate-Acting Insulin

When the above-mentioned rapid-acting insulin stops working, it is this type of insulin which actually works to reduce the increased levels of blood glucose. The insulin is mostly taken a couple of times during the day and takes anywhere between 1.5 to 4 hours to enter the bloodstream of the diabetes patient. Some of the brands under which this is available include NPH, etc.

Ultra-Long-Acting Insulin

Finally, there is this insulin which is ultra long which essentially means that it takes around 6 hours to reach to your bloodstream. Some examples include Lantus, Levemir, Basaglar, etc.

There are some of the following other types of insulin as well:

Bolus Insulin

This is the insulin which is essentially fast-acting and is usually given to stabilize the increased levels of blood glucose.

Basal Insulin

This is a type of long-acting insulin which is not given before meals but also at night. When you do not eat food, some amount of insulin is required by your body. Hence basal insulin needs to be taken in which the long-acting insulin is essentially combined with the fast acting one.

Inhalable Insulin

This is a type of insulin which can be inhaled by you instead of taking injections or insulin through pumps. The system of taking it in is very similar to the inhalers which an asthma patient takes. An example of inhalable insulin available in the market today is Afrezza.

Thus, the above are the main types of insulin that are available for you to be taken externally.

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• http://www.joslin.org/info/insulin_a_to_z_a_guide_on_different_types_of_insulin.html

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