Insulin Degludec a New Long-Acting Insulin - 800 Words

Insulin Degludec; a New Long-Acting Insulin Diabetes mellitus is an ever common and increasing in prevalence, disease process afflicting many. Proper treatment, management and ultimately control of diabetes, is a complex and difficult task. Many factors contribute to the complexity of diabetes treatment. These factors play a role in the large occurrence of non-compliance in diabetic treatment therapies. Identifying, understanding and finally, addressing these issues will help alleviate these obstacles in diabetes management. Factors Contributing to Insulin Therapy Non-adherence According to Stockley (2014), consistently following an insulin therapy schedule will better control blood glucose levels and will decrease and help prevent†¦show more content†¦16). Stockley affirms that the pharmacokinetic studies done on insulin degludec have shown a therapeutic effect lasting more than 42 hours with a maintained glucose lowering action (2014 p. 16). This increased sustained release far exceeds the current 24 hour duration of action that both insulin glargine and insulin determir possess. Clinical Evidence In a 52 week randomized clinical study, patients with either type 1 diabetes or type 2 diabetes were treated using insulin glargine or insulin degludec. The study focus was on the effectiveness, safety and how well the patients tolerated the insulin degludec. One area of the study that was of particular interest was the occurrence of hypoglycemic events and mainly nocturnal hypoglycemia. The results of this study were then analyzed and the findings interpreted to compare insulin glargine and insulin degludec. The clinical study outcome showed that insulin degludec compared similarly with insulin glargine in both type 1 and type 2 diabetic patients on the reductions of both HbA1c and fasting plasma glucose levels. However, when the amount of episodes of hypoglycemia were compared, the patients taking insulin degludec showed an increased reduction of hypoglycemic events, anywhere from 18% to 25% fewer incidences (Stockley, 2014, p. 18). This finding is extremely important and beneficial because the main reason cited for