I read a tweet the other day that had me pretty confused about analog (analogue in countries other than the US) insulin. Here’s the scoop on analogs, just in case anyone else is confused.
Once upon a time some awesome scientists spent a hot, sweaty summer in a lab in Toronto. They were (finally) able to isolate and extract insulin, and purify it enough to inject it into humans. That was what we came to know as “Regular” insulin. Over the years smart people added proteins to make that insulin work more slowly (Lente, NPH, Ultralente), and they tried injecting less frequently, then more frequently, always attempting to replicate what the amazing body does on its own.
Then one day they figured out how to make insulin just the same as human insulin (Humulin and Novolin) and there was no more need to get insulin from animals. A few years after that they used “recombinant DNA” procedures in the lab to create “analog” insulin. This means they made some change(s) to the insulin (protein) structure in order to make it work faster (Humalog, Novolog, Apidra) or slower (Lantus, Levemir). These analogs have made life somewhat better for those of us who take insulin, because we don’t have to wait 30-45 minutes after insulin and before eating. We also have smoother coverage throughout the day and night.
Now we have even longer acting analogs (Tresiba and Toujeo) and we’re hoping for even faster acting ones (soon??). We’re also hoping that all people who need it will have access to the best types of insulin available.
Thanks to those who first made insulin available; thanks to those who have fine-tuned the types of insulin we have today; and thanks to those who are advocating for more reasonable insulin prices.