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

 

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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
  • 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

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