[Current insulin therapy. Treatment with new short-acting and retard insulin analogs]

Intensified insulin therapy of type I diabetics can now be rendered more patient-friendly through the use of rapid-action insulin. Thus, for example, the rapid absorption of the monomeric lispro insulin (Humalog) out of the subcutaneous fatty tissue obviates the need to observe a delay between injection and meal, and the changed kinetics of action reduce the danger of postprandial episodes of hypoglycemia. In addition to practice-relevant hints on the use of these new short-acting insulins in intensified insulin therapy, this short article reviews the current state of the development of a new long-acting insulin that is shortly to be tested in an international multi-center phase III study.