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Q: What is the primary difference among marketed insulin products?
A: The main differences among the available insulin preparations are time of onset and duration of action (Table 1).5-7 Insulin is available in rapid-, short-, intermediate-, and long-acting formulations that may be injected separately or mixed in the same syringe. Rapid-acting insulin analogs (insulin lispro and insulin aspart) are available, and other analogs are in development. Regular is a short-acting insulin. Intermediate-acting insulins include lente and NPH. Ultralente and insulin glargine are long-acting insulins. Insulin preparations with a predetermined proportion of intermediateacting insulin mixed with short- or rapid-acting insulin (eg, 70% NPH/30% regular, 50% NPH/50% regular, and 75% NPL/25% insulin lispro) are also available.7
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