What does this review of short-acting insulin analogues and regular ‘human’ insulin mean for people with diabetes?
Cochrane reviews are designed to assess the evidence from randomised controlled trials to provide high quality evidence to help patients and doctors make informed choices about insulin treatment. So this review provides just this! Looking at the review in details tells us the following: The trials: Altogether 7933 participants took part in 42 randomised controlled studies. 25 studies were carried out in people with Type 1 diabetes, 5 in people with Type 2 diabetes, 5 with a combination people with Type 1 and Type 2 diabetes and one in women with gestational diabetes. The evidence from the review says: • There was only a minor benefit of short acting insulin analogues compared to ‘human’ insulin. • Until long term efficacy and safety data are available we suggest a cautious response to the vigorous promotion of insulin analogues. • Due to fears of potentially carcinogenic and proliferative effects, most studies to date have excluded patients with advanced diabetic complications. • For s
