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Concept
Insulin (medication)
Summary
As a medication, insulin is any pharmaceutical preparation of the protein hormone insulin that is used to treat high blood glucose. Such conditions include type 1 diabetes, type 2 diabetes, gestational diabetes, and complications of diabetes such as diabetic ketoacidosis and hyperosmolar hyperglycemic states. Insulin is also used along with glucose to treat hyperkalemia (high blood potassium levels). Typically it is given by injection under the skin, but some forms may also be used by injection into a vein or muscle. There are various types of insulin, suitable for various time spans. The types are often all called insulin in the broad sense, although in a more precise sense, insulin is identical to the naturally occurring molecule whereas insulin analogues have slightly different molecules that allow for modified time of action. It is on the World Health Organization's List of Essential Medicines. In 2020, regular human insulin was the 307th most commonly prescribed medication in the United States, with more than 1 million prescriptions.
Insulin can be made from the pancreas of pigs or cows. Human versions can be made either by modifying pig versions, or recombinant technology using mainly E. coli or Saccharomyces cerevisiae. It comes in three main types: short–acting (such as regular insulin), intermediate-acting (such as neutral protamine Hagedorn (NPH) insulin), and longer-acting (such as insulin glargine).
Insulin was first used as a medication in Canada by Charles Best and Frederick Banting in 1922.
This is a chronology of key milestones in the history of the medical use of insulin. For more details on the discovery, extraction, purification, clinical use, and synthesis of insulin, see Insulin
1921 Research on the role of pancreas in the nutritive assimilation
1922 Frederick Banting, Charles Best and James Collip use bovine insulin extract in humans at Connaught Laboratories in Toronto, Canada.
1922 Leonard Thompson becomes the first human to be treated with insulin.
1922 James D. Havens, son of former congressman James S.
Official source
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