Insulin: FAQ for Diabetes Patients

What is Insulin?
Insulin is essential body hormone produced by pancreas gland. Glucose is made from the eaten food. This glucose is essential for cells to generate energy. However, absorption depends on insulin. Higher level of glucose in blood is known as diabetes. There are two types of diabetes; Type 1 diabetes and Type 2 diabetes. Diabetes is known as Type 1 when pancreas gland does not produce enough insulin. Diabetes is known as Type 2 when produced insulin does not work properly.

How do we get Insulin?
In early time, because of lack of technology, insulin was procured from pancreas glands on dead animal. Today, with the help of advanced technology, insulin is being prepared in laboratory. Advantage of using insulin prepared in laboratory is it is not contaminated. There are three types of insulin beef insulin, pork insulin, man insulin (name pattern is because of resembling structure insulin).

Who with Diabetes needs Insulin?
Being unable to produce insulin in type 1 diabetes, patients must be given from externally. For patients with Type 2 diabetes, there are many diabetes drugs in market. Avandia and Actos are some of them. It is advisable for type 2 diabetes patient to control blood glucose level with suggested diet along with medicine.

What is the best treatment for Type 2 Diabetes?
There are two options for type 2 diabetes patients. One, take diabetes drugs such as actos and Avandia; Two, have insulin externally. Both the option, however, must be accompanied by strict diet suggested by doctor.

Most of the Diabetes patients avoid painful injection of insulin and prefer diabetes drugs along with proper diet.

[Note: There are drugs under trial that requires to be taken once a week and once a month]

Diabetes drug works either by improving insulin production or by increasing insulin sensitivity. Scientists know how what is going wrong, but they don’t know why it is going wrong. In other words, health experts know that pancreas gland is malfunctioning (producing lesser insulin) but they do not know the causes.