Basal Insulin Titration: Moving Towards a More Patient-Centric Approach with Gla-100 in India

S V Madhu1, K Neelaveni2, Shailesh Pitale3

  • 1Director-Professor and Head, Dept. Of Endocrinology, University College of Medical Sciences and GTB Hospital, Delhi.

Owing to the progressive nature of the disease, patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) eventually require adjustment or titration of insulin doses to achieve the desired glycemic control. Titration inertia, or the inability to dose-titrate, is one of the key barriers to optimized insulin therapy and is common in Asian countries such as India. Simple and effective titration algorithms involving the use of basal insulin, which has the lowest hypoglycemia risk, that can be individualized by physicians and easily followed by patients aid in tackling titration inertia. In this context, insulin glargine 100 U/mL (Gla-100) appears to be the ideal insulin to overcome titration inertia, owing to its low risk of hypoglycemia and effective glycemic control. Different guidelines recommend the use of basal insulin, such as Gla-100, and encourage a patient-centric approach for dose titration. Although the effective implementation of the patient-centric approach in India is challenging, it is nevertheless achievable.

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