A balancing act of optimising insulin dose and insulin sensitivity in type 1 diabetes

The incidence and prevalence of type 1, insulin dependent, diabetes is increasing worldwide, spurring efforts to develop and improve therapeutic modalities to improve clinical outcomes for patients. Patients with type 1 diabetes are absolutely dependent on exogenous insulin replacement. Despite advances with novel rapid-acting and intermediate-acting insulin analogues, the net result of exogenous delivery is non-physiologic with respect to both timing and the circulating insulin concentrations achieved. This leads to periods of hyperglycaemia and hypoglycaemia, both of which contribute negatively to overall clinical outcome. Thus, better understanding of optimal insulin regimens is of clinical relevance for patients with type 1 diabetes. Journal of Endocrinology (2011) 211, 1-2