Insulin detemir reduces weight gain as a result of reduced food intake in patients with type 1 diabetes

What Was Tested

Researchers studied Insulin Detemir and NPH Insulin (isophane) in this randomized controlled trial publication.

Insulin detemir lacks the usual propensity for insulin to cause weight gain.

Who Took Part

According to the abstract, 23 patients were involved.

By PubMed's age tags, the people studied were adults, both men and women.

A 32-week, randomized crossover design trial was undertaken in 23 patients with type 1 diabetes.

Patients on a basal-bolus regimen (with insulin aspart as the bolus insulin) were randomly assigned to insulin detemir or NPH insulin as a basal insulin for 16 weeks, followed by the other basal insulin for 16 weeks.

How the Study Was Run

The design is described as randomized and crossover.

Random assignment meant chance, not the researchers, decided who got Insulin Detemir and who got the comparison, which limits bias.

In the crossover set-up each of the patients took both Insulin Detemir and the comparison in turn, acting as their own control.

A time span of 16 weeks appears in the methods.

At the end of each 16-week period, total energy expenditure, resting energy expenditure, diet-induced thermogenesis, activity energy expenditure, energy intake, weight change, glycemic control, hypoglycemic episodes, and hormones that affect satiety and fuel partitioning were measured.

What Was Measured

Topics PubMed links to this paper include Blood Glucose, Diabetes Mellitus, Type 1, Eating, Energy Intake, Hypoglycemic Agents, Insulin and Insulin Detemir.

What This Means in Plain Language

The paper is a randomized and crossover study of Insulin Detemir and NPH Insulin (isophane) in 23 patients over 16 weeks.

With fewer than 40 people, it is a small study, so it is better read as an early signal for further research than as a settled answer.

The abstract goes on to report its results in about 7 sentences; this page does not restate them, so read the paper for the findings and their limits.

The publication is from 2011 (Diabetes care), a journal based in United States.

More context: the Insulin Detemir compound page and the NPH Insulin (isophane) compound page.