[Are there problems in changing diabetic patients from animal to human insulin?]

In Switzerland it is still a debatable point whether diabetics whose treatment has been changed from animal to human insulin notice premonitory symptoms of hypoglycemia to a lesser degree and whether this could be hazardous for them. In a prospective study, 18 longstanding type 1 and type 2 diabetics, treated with insulin Lente MC, were selected and observed at frequent intervals for three months. This first period was followed by a transfer to human insulin (Protaphan HM) and a close observation for another three months. Before the transfer, all patients were well informed about a possible change in premonitory symptoms of hypoglycemia. The initial dose of Protaphan HM was 10% lower than in the treatment with Lente MC. During the three month period with human insulin, we observed no change with regard to blood-sugar regulation or Hb-A1. The most important observation was that the number of hypoglycemic episodes did not change after the transfer to human insulin. There were only mild to moderate degrees of hypoglycemia, the average being three episodes per patient. The change to human insulin was without any problems for the patients: they all preferred to stay on Protaphan HM for future treatment. Also, in general practice, patients can be changed without difficulties from animal to human insulin, provided that the above-mentioned precautions are respected.