Basal insulins: Pharmacological properties and patient perspectives

Basal insulin analogues are an effective treatment for type 2 diabetes with proven efficacy, and insulins NPH, detemir and glargine have shown comparable glycaemic control. However, pharmacokinetics and clinical studies highlight the advantages of insulins detemir and glargine over insulin NPH in terms of once-daily dosing, reduced risk of hypoglycaemia, reduced within-patient variability, appropriate duration of action and simple titration. Insulin detemir has demonstrated the additional advantage of less weight gain. Introduction of insulin detemir, at the appropriate time, can help empower patients to reach glycaemic targets, with a reduced risk of hypoglycaemia and less weight gain.