Treatments for Diabetes

Currently, there are many different treatments for diabetes.  Listed below are some, but not all of the treatments...

Insulin Therapy

Insulin therapy is the most common treatment for type 1 diabetes.  This therapy usually includes short-acting insulin (Regular, Humalog) and long-acting insulin (NPH, Lente, Ultralente) and is combined with glucose monitoring at least twice a day.  The different methods of using this therapy are listed below

Syringe-and-Vial

This is most likely the most frequently used type of insulin therapy.  This is mostly self explanatory, you use a syringe to draw insulin from a vial(s) and inject it into the body.  This is how most people who are "veteran" diabetics prefer, but others use insulin pens or pumps.

Insulin Pens

Insulin pens and the syringe-and-vial methods are similar in the effect that they both need to be injected multiple-times.  Insulin pens come either pre-filled with insulin, usually 3cc's (300 units/3mL) of insulin.  The Eli Lilly Company make insulin pens in Humalog (short-acting; a.k.a. lispro), NPH (long-acting; similar to: lente, ultralente) and in 70/30 (combo of NPH and Regular).  These pens are the pre-filled variety.  These only need a syringe cap and priming and they are ready to go.  Many people prefer the pens over the syringe-and-vial method because of its portability and ease of use.

Insulin Pumps