Insulin (medication) cover meals (bolus also known as mealtime or prandial insulin). Maintaining the basal rate and the bolus rate is a continuous balancing act that people with insulin-dependent diabetes must manage each day. This is normally achieved through regular blood tests, although continuous blood sugar testing equipment (Continuous Glucose Monitors or CGMs) are now becoming available which could help to refine this balancing act once widespread usage becomes common. A long-acting insulin is used to approximate the basal secretion of insulin by the pancreas, which varies in the course of the day. NPH/isophane, lente, ultralente, glargine, and detemir may be used
Insulin (medication) Medical preparations of insulin are never just 'insulin in water'. Clinical insulins are specially prepared mixtures of insulin plus other substances including preservatives. These delay absorption of the insulin, adjust the pH of the solution to reduce reactions at the injection site, and so on. Slight variations of the human insulin molecule are called insulin analogues, (technically "insulin receptor ligands") so named because they are not technically insulin, rather they are analogues which retain the hormone's glucose management functionality. They have absorption and activity characteristics not currently possible with subcutaneously injected insulin proper. They are either absorbed rapidly in an