Insulin Pumps, What They Are and How They Work
In recent years a new alternative to manual individual injections has emerged. Enter the Insulin Pump. For reviews of the latest models, click Insulin Pumps Reviewed. We also have a Pump Q&A section.
Modern insulin pumps are about the size of a Cell Phone or Pager. The pump is worn unobtrusively on a belt or in a pocket and it delivers insulin through an infusion set that is inserted under the skin. Fast acting insulin is loaded into the pump.
Key Benefits
Insulin Pumps offer many potential benefits:
- Most people notice an improvement in their blood glucose control
- Reduced risk of diabetic complications (due to better control)
- Suits diabetics with hectic and unpredictable lifestyles
- Can be useful during pregnancy to stablise control
It takes a little time to set up the pump and fine tune it for best performance. You will need to fairly accurately count the carbohydrate in your meals, and there will be a lot of glucose testing to begin with. You should have a good understanding of diabetes and understand how to adjust your insulin before you consider an insulin pump. Some pumps include carbohydrate databases that can help you calculate your insulin dose.
The Basal Level
The Insulin Pump consists of a container of insulin, a pump and a pump controller. The controller allows the user to set up a Basal level of insulin. The basal rate varies at different times of the day i.e. less at night time. The basal rate also be changed to suit your lifestyle or circumstances. For instance if you get sick, your rate can go up, if you want to take some exercise, you can temporarily lower the rate, in short you are able to change the insulin amounts easily to suit how you want to live.
Tiny amounts of the insulin are delivered by the pump every few minutes providing the body with the insulin it needs between meals. This trickle delivery of insulin much more closely mimicks the action of the pancreas in a normal person, where a constant basal amount of insulin is always being delivered.
Bolus Doses
Before a meal, a button is pressed that provides a set larger dose of insulin (called a Bolus dose). If your meal is delayed, or you have to skip a meal, you simply don't press the button! No insulin injections are required when using a pump, however it should be remembered that the pump only delivers insulin, it does not measure blood glucose. Finger prick testing of your glucose levels is still required.
Health Professionals Use Pumps!
A survey of health professionals who have diabetes themselves, carried out by The Diabetes Educator, found that 50% of diabetic health professionals used an insulin pump. This is around 10 times more than the average for all diabetics.
Product Reviews
For a look at the latest Insulin Pumps on the market, please visit our Product Reviews section.
Recommended Supplier
Diabetic Supplies from DiabetesStore.com
DiabetesStore.Com is a leading online retailer of all types of diabetes-related products at the lowest prices you'll find anywhere.
More Resources
[ www.jdrf.org ]
[ www.childrenwithdiabetes.com ]
[ www.joslin.org ]
[ www.diabetes.org
]
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Pages in this section...
[ Symptoms ] [ Initial Diagnosis ] [ Risks ] [ Treatments ] [ Injection Sites ] [ Pens and Syringes ] [ Insulin Pumps ] [ Infusion Sets ]
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