Long Acting Insulin Demands, Increasing in Canada

Diabetes is one of those lifelong diseases that needs regular medication and maintenance in order not to end up with abnormal blood sugar levels, may it be too high or too low.  With the introduction of Levemir in Canada, its demand has skyrocketed because of its beneficial advantages compared to other basal insulin therapies. 

Canada Drugs Online is always up-to-date with the latest when it comes to Canadian prescription drugs , and to your other health and pharmaceutical needs.  They made the availability of Levemir to over two million Canadians with diabetes possible.  You might ask, “What makes Levemir on the edge of diabetes therapy?

What is Levemir?

·   Levemir (insulin detemir) is introduced to treat adult Canadians with type 1 and type 2 diabetes.  It is a soluble, long-lasting basal insulin analogue.   It has a flat and predictable action profile.  Also, it does not advance weight gain among patients.

·   With its prolonged duration of action, it has up to 24-hour effectivity period for better diabetes management.  Its nocturnal glucose profile is flatter and smoother compared with other basal insulin, such as NPH (Neutral Protamine Hagedorn).  Thus, offering more foreseeable control of blood glucose levels and decreased danger of hypoglycemia especially at night.  Shifting the medication of people with diabetes to Levemir means realizing a more fixed control over the disease.

·   It prevents weight gain normally linked with insulin treatment.  Particularly, it is formulated to the advantage of individuals suffering with type 2 diabetes, who are usually overweight already.

Predictable control over blood glucose levels

Levemir’s medical advantage of predictability and controllability provides patients security from experiencing hyperglycemia (very high blood glucose) and hypoglycemia (very low blood glucose) which is the concern of most patients who are about to start insulin therapy.  Studies have shown that Levemir-treated patients are 26% less susceptible to hypoglycemia (over-all and night-time chances of attack) compared to those medicated with NPH.  Doctors are positive with Levemir since it makes therapy targets more attainable and it yields improved clinical outcomes.  Thus, Levemir gives patients improved glycaemic control and a better forbearance of their therapy.

Weight gain no longer a problem

"Clinical studies have shown that patients taking Levemir for type 1 or type 2 diabetes, experienced significantly less weight gain than those taking traditional human insulins and in many cases even experienced weight loss.  The flat and predictable profile of the new basal insulin Levemir may, at least in part, explain why people lose weight or do not gain as much weight on Levemir as they do on traditional human basal insulins." according to Dr. Robert Schlosser, Endocrinologist and Co-Director, Lifestyle Metabolism Centre, Toronto.

Aside from the pain that patients get from their daily injections, weight gain is another troublesome side effect of insulin therapy.  In particular, majority of diabetic individuals are overweight already; thus, introducing insulin into their daily maintenance could lead to complications like undesirable alteration of blood pressure and lipid profiles.  Weight gain among insulin-induced patients averaged at 5.2 kg (11.5 lbs) during the first three years, and some gained significantly more than this.  Nevertheless, with Levemir, the more overweight a patient is prior insulin medication, the less weight they will gain compared to human basal insulin.

With its undeniably helpful medical and clinical advantages, Levemir is one of those Canadian drugs that have gained great popularity and demand among Canadian patients with diabetes.