It seems strange to have the measuring unit for something be a “unit” instead of a measurement of mass. There is an agreed upon standard for what a milligram or a microgram is. Outside of the context of insulin, a “unit” is undefined and variable. Context: I’m an RN with type 1 diabetes. I understand drug concentrations and insulin dosing. This one just seems like a strange anomaly in the world of measuring medications. My only guess is that the actual hormone is so minuscule to measure that even nanograms and picograms can’t do it?
In: 264
It was a measurable amount that could easily be tested/duplicated.
One of the earliest methods was:
1 unit was the amount needed to [induce hypoglycemic seizure](https://journals.physiology.org/doi/abs/10.1152/ajplegacy.1926.76.3.677?journalCode=ajplegacy) in a 2kg rabbit (sorry for nasty/brutal part).
But, overdosing a tiny animal means it will have a small-noninsignificant effect in humans.
Once there were several types of insulin, it also helped to have relative potency (rather than a harder-to-measure and clinically arbitrary when comparing different insulins) milligram/microgram measurement.
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