Humulin 30/70 and Mixtard 30 are the same. They are just made by different companies. It is a mixture of three parts of Regular insulin with seven parts of NPH. Mixtard also comes in a variety of vials to fit pen dispensers. For a detailed review of pens, you should look at Insulin Pens.
DOB
Additional comments from Dr. Larry Deeb:
Mixtard 30 the same as Humulin 70/30.
LD
[Editor’s comment: Also see Jet Injectors.
SS]
[Editor’s comment: In many parts of the world, premixed insulins are described with the rapid-acting insulin (the smaller percentage) mentioned first, then the longer-lasting (larger percentage) insulin, so a premix would be described as 30/70 (30% rapid-acting insulin and 70% longer-lasting insulin) or 20/80 (20% rapid-acting insulin and 80% longer-lasting insulin) or whatever. In the United States, however, the numerical descriptions are reversed: 70/30 would be 70% longer-lasting insulin, and 30% rapid-acting insulin. (And sometimes the manufacturers use different names in different countries: for example, from Novo Nordisk’s website about Mixtard 30 “Mixtard� 30 [in the EU and other countries]… In some countries this type of premixed insulin is marketed as Actraphane�. In the USA it is marketed as Novolin� 70/30.”)
The exact insulin types included in these premixed products also can vary: sometimes the rapid-acting product is Regular, and sometimes it’s a rapid-acting insulin analog.
Yes, it can be very confusing!
WWQ]
