Insulin - Human vs Animal

[Ionutz]

I'm having diabetes for almost 25 years...I'm curious...what kind of insulin do you use????Human? Animal?It should be a poll on this matter!

[JDRF-Team-cd]

Ionutz,
My son uses synthetic human insulin -- novolog.  Animal insulin (beef and pork) have pretty much been discontinued in the US.

From the ADA website:
Today, recombinant DNA human insulins are the most widely used insulins in this country. Through genetic engineering, bacteria or yeast are transformed into little "factories" that produce synthetic human insulin. Years ago, the most commonly used insulins were pork, beef, and beef-pork combinations.

The source of an insulin is important because it affects how quickly an insulin will be absorbed, peak, and last. Human insulins are absorbed more quickly than other forms of insulin.

Another important point is that insulins from animal sources are more likely to cause allergic reactions. However, many people have taken these insulins for years without problems.

Which type do you use?

Have a wonderful day.
Carol

[Ionutz]

Look what I found on this forum:".....being tired in school and not being able to focus could be because his blood sugar...."-reffering to hypoglicaemia.Did you ever consider the effects of human insulin on this matter?????

[JDRF-Team-BL]

Your note from the page about not being able to pay attention in school could be due to low blood sugar, hypoglycemia would occur whether animal or insulin insulin was used. As these are both insulin and designed for only one purpose to lower blood glucose.Human insulin doesn't have the allergic reactions that animal does. Now human insulin in absorbed quicker than animal and two manufacturers have redesigned the insulin molecule chain of amino acid by swapping places with two different amino acids and getting an insulin that is absorbed even quicker and still does the same job. But anyone on insulin can have problems with low blood glucose on occasion and if it seems to be happening at the same time each day then you should get some of the blood sugar results and show them to your doctor so he can make changes that will help prevent this from happening. That is another reason for testing blood sugar, so your doctor can help make beneficial changes in your regimen. Good luck, bret

[Ionutz]

Hmm...That's not what i asked...I read and learn alot,I mean AM LOT.The question about human insulin is :ARE YOU PRO OR CON ??
I know I have problems with human insulin :it really can cause "loss of warnings" in case of hypoglicaemia.When i was on animal insulin i've never had such problems.Have you ever tried pork or beef insulin???Indeed with human you gain a better contro but you can also die easily in you sleep...

[JDRF Team SGG]

There are people who blame loss of hypoglycemia warning symptoms on human insulin, but studies have shown that the true cause of loss of warning symptoms is a complex thing rooted in frequent lows. Each severe low that is not recognized and fixed promptly causes the body to go for its stores of emergency sugars from the liver. When these are tapped, they leave residues for a short period of time so that if another low happens before these residues have cleared from the body, the brain doesn't send out warning signals when low because it thinks the body has glucose! So the snowball effect causes the warning symptoms to eventually vanish if lows happen too frequently and if they are not treated very quickly so as to stop the brain for sening for sugars from the liver.

Anyway, the studies (the first one I read was done in 2001 in England, but others have shown the same results) show that the warning signals can be recovered if the person can avoid ALL lows for a period of time (the first study I read stated that this time should be 2 weeks, but other studies have shown that warning symptoms can return after anywhere between this 3-week number up to 3 months of no lows). The study I first read, which went into great detail about how this all works, also stated that it is extremely important to get the quickest possible carbs into your body when dropping low. Most of us tend to eat a snack when low rather than drinking juice, which digests much faster. So even after we eat, the digestion takes time and our bodies can send for emergency sugars in spite of the fact that we ate. So the study that I read about in 2001 encouraged diabetics to opt for the juice instead of the slower snack when low at all times to avoid getting the emergency liver sugars involved at all.

In any event, I also grew up on pork insulin and am now on human insulin. I had lost all warning symptoms, but this happened directly after a pregnancy in which I was overdosed for 9 months on insulin as sort of a test to see how this would affect me and my baby. The lost warning symptoms had NOTHING to do with human insulin and everything to do with frequent lows, just as the study I read stated. I thought I was doomed for life, but after following the suggestions stated by the study, my symptoms are back as good as when first diagnosed.

I personally firmly believe the study report to be accurate and that the pork insulin vs. human insulin to not have anything to do with loss of warning symptoms. Also, if you look back on how technology has changed, the advent of human insulins came about as glucometers were becoming available and diabetics were able to tighten up glucose controls so lows started happening more often. Obviously this would mean loss of warning symptoms if the lows are the cause, and the fact that it happened at about the same time as the beginnings of human insulin would be mere coincidence. I firmly believe the real culprit is the fact that tighter control means possibly more lows. However, the juice instead of cookie or cracker fix to lows seems to preserve the warning symptoms for me these days.

There. You asked for an opinion...

[jdrf team dm]

Dear Ionutz,

I have to agree with the comments in this thread. None of us are doctors, but have many years of life experience as you with type 1 diabetes. I can't personally remember anyone on animal insulin these days in the U.S. and really can't recommend doing a poll on this here, but I do agree with the other comments that with tighter control of blood sugars, people can experience more lows. I do hope the answers and information that you have recieved here have helped in some way. You may also want to check out the JDRF website at www.jdrf.org for further study information and research.  

Best to you,
dm

[mhunt8347]

FWIW.  There are diabetics that have hypo unawareness on "human" insulin.  As a mater of fact there are thousands of us worldwide.  Try reading the warnings that are on the insert that comes with your insulin.  It will tell you that there are a "few" that hypo symptoms are less pronounced when switched from animal insulin to "human" insulin.  I have to differ with them on the "few" and for some of us symptoms of hypoglycemia are non-existent.  

As for studies that you say prove us wrong, ask who paid for the studies.  Try searching for foreign studies that show just the opposite.

Tell me why I had no hypo symptoms on "human" insulin, but when I went back to beef insulin I got my symptoms back.  Tell me why I felt like I was coming down with something all the time I was on "human" insulin.  

I do agree that intensive therapy contributes to hypo unawareness with increase of hypo frequency, but I've never used intensive therapy and I don't have any diabetic complications after 28 years of diabetes.

Do you really think that all diabetics can safely and effectively use "human" insulin? Even Lilly admits now that a "few" can't.

Aren't Lilly and Novo major contributors to JDRF?