Types of insulin

Human insulin is the insulin available in Australia and most other countries around the world. Special arrangements can be made to obtain Beef insulin on medical advice. The strength of insulin is 100 units per ml. Some countries still use 40 or 80 units per ml. The correct insulin syringe must also be used for the insulin strength. Take care to get the correct insulin strength and syringes if obtaining insulin overseas.

There are five different types of insulin available ranging from very short acting to intermediate or long acting. The following are currently available in Australia:

Insulin types and their action

Ultra short acting analogues Should be injected immediately before eating Clear appearance

Onset: 5 to 15 mins	Peak: 1 to 3 hours	Duration: 5 hours
Drug name	Brand name	Manufacturer
Insulin Aspart	Novorapid	Novo Nordisk
Insulin Lispro	Humalog	Eli Lilly
Insulin Glulisine	Apidra	Sanofi-Aventis

Short acting insulins Should be injected half an hour before a meal Clear appearance

Onset: 30 mins	Peak:  2.5 to 5 hour	Duration: 8 hours
Drug name	Brand name	Manufacturer
Insulin neutral (regular)	Actrapid	Novo Nordisk
Insulin neutral (regular)	Humulin R	Eli Lilly

Intermediate acting insulins Does not need to be injected with a meal Cloudy in appearance Needs to be gently shaken before every use

Onset: 1.5 hrs	Peak: 4 to 12 hrs	Duration: 12 to 16 ( up to 24hrs)
Drug name	Brand name	Manufacturer
Isophane	Protaphane	Novo Nordisk
Isophane (NPH)	Humulin NPH	Eli Lilly

Long acting analogue insulins Clear in appearance (note: only the long acting insulins that are clear) Does not need to be injected with a meal

Drug name	Brand name	Manufacturer
Insulin determir	Levemir	Novo Nordisk
Insulin glargine	Lantus	Sanofi-Aventis

Pre-mixed insulins Cloudy in appearance Should be gently shaken before every use Humalog Mix and NovoMix need to be injected immediately before a meal Mixtard and Humulin should be injected half an hour before a meal

Onset: varies	Peak: varies	Duration: varies
Drug name	Brand name	Manufacturer
25 per cent insulin lispro/ 75 per cent insulin lispro protamine suspension	Humalog Mix 25	Eli Lilly
50 per cent insulin lispro/ 50 per cent insulin lispro protamine suspension	Humalog Mix 50	Eli Lilly
30 per cent insulin aspart/ 70 per cent insulin aspart protamine supension	NovoMix 30	Novo Nordisk
20 per cent insulin neutral (regular) 80 per cent isophane	Mixtard 20/80	Novo Nordisk
30 per cent insulin neutral (regular) 70 per cent isophane	Humulin 30/70	Eli Lilly
30 per cent insulin neutral (regular) 70 per cent isophane	Mixtard 30/70	Novo Nordisk
50 per cent insulin neutral (regular) 50 per cent isophane	Mixtard 50/50	Novo Nordisk