Long-acting insulin is safer, more effective for patients with Type 1 diabetes

http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2014-10/smh-lii092914.php

PUBLIC RELEASE DATE: 1-Oct-2014

Contact: Geoff Koehler
St. Michael's Hospital
Long-acting insulin is safer, more effective for patients with Type 1 diabetes

Long-acting insulin is safer and more effective than intermediate-acting insulin for patients with Type 1 diabetes, according to new research published in the BMJ.

Researchers looked at once-daily and twice-daily doses of both long- and intermediate-acting insulin, ranking their effectiveness, safety and cost-effectiveness.

"In patients with Type 1 diabetes, we found that long-acting insulin is superior to intermediate-acting insulin when it came to controlling blood sugar, preventing weight gain and treating severe hypoglycemia," said Dr. Andrea Tricco, the lead author of the paper and a scientist in the Li Ka Shing Knowledge Institute of St. Michael's Hospital.

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Of the 32 studies included in the review, there were 22 analyses evaluating the economic benefits of long- and intermediate-acting insulin. Seventy-seven per cent of those economic analyses found that long-acting insulin was more expensive but also more effective than intermediate-acting insulin. Twenty-three per cent found long-acting insulin more cost-effective.

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