Use of Insulin Pump Therapy for Type 1 Diabetes
“Instead of multiple daily injections, some patients with type 1diabetes use an insulin pump to control their blood glucose. Dr. Richard M. Bergenstal and collaborators reported significant improvement in glucose regulation with insulin pump and automated glucose monitor, compared to standard injection therapy, in the New England Journal of Medicine.” http://www.empowher.com/diabetes-type-1/content/insulin-pump-therapy-diabetes-type-1
American Diabetes Association gives the detailed description of the insulin pump therapy, together with its advantages and the disadvantages. The major advantage of insulin pump is having a good glucose control because it is closer to the estimation to the way a non-diabetic works. Using injection therapy have a long acting insulin, while the pump uses short acting insulin delivered constantly 24 hours per day together with an adjustment for food and exercise, also blood glucose levels out of range.
The main disadvantage of pump is somewhat bothersome because the patient must wear it all the time. It can be disconnected for some times like activities such as bathing or swimming. The patient should need a longer period of training on how to operate the pump. The training is worthwhile for the pump allows for much flexibility in lifestyle.
Insulin pump is connected to the body through an infusion set that requires one needle stick every two to three days. The insulin pump size is like the size of cell phone and it is available on several brands and some of it includes continuous glucose monitor in the same system. Glucose monitor is inserted into a second site near the infusion set.
Trials have been done to compare the insulin pimp therapy to the standard injection therapy in one year among 485 patients, 329 adults and 156 children. The trail is Star 3 or the Sensor-augmented pump Therapy for A1C Reduction. They use the glycated haemoglobin level for the evaluation of the effectiveness of the therapy. Result shows that there was no significant weight in both group, and had no significant difference in the number of severe hypoglycaemia.
