Diabetes

Diabetes is one of the most common non-infectious diseases. Diabetes develops when the pancreas produces little or no insulin (type 1) or when the body cannot effectively use the insulin it produces (type 2).

Diabetes is the fourth or fifth leading cause of death in most developed countries and is developing into an epidemic in many developing and newly industrialized nations. According to International Diabetes Federation’s publications there were some 246 million people with diabetes in 2007. If action is not taken to put preventive measures in place, some 380 million people are expected to have diabetes in 2025.  
 
Type 1 diabetes, in which insulin is not secreted by the pancreas, is directly treatable only with injected insulin, combined with dietary and other lifestyle adjustments. Type 2 diabetes may be managed with a combination of dietary treatment, tablets and injections and, insulin supplementation. Commonly used insulin types include synthetic human insulin or insulin analogs where the structure of the human insulin protein has been modified to improve therapeutic activity.

Kemira’s acetates, mainly sodium acetate, but also ammonium acetate, potassium acetate and zinc acetate, and formic acid are used in the production of insulin. Additionally, as a constituent in insulin products, sodium acetate acts as an oxidative fuel when injected into diabetes patients which stops the body from making anti bodies during insulin injection.

Kemira’s pharmaceutical grade products are subject to rigid quality control to ensure very high purity, fulfilling all the required specifications of various pharmacopoeias.