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Insulin pump therapy, what the doctors call continuous
subcutaneous infusion, offers a number of advantages over
traditional (hypodermic injection) insulin therapy.
Although the insulin pump is complex and expensive, it does
a better job than the needle, and if you use insulin, it may
do a better job for you.
Where needle-injecting insulin users generally mix
different insulin types to achieve optimal "coverage," pump
users use only short-acting insulin, adjusting the machine
rather than their insulin mix. This produces results more
resembling those of a healthy (non-diabetic) pancreas.
Once the new steps necessary to using the pump have
been mastered, insulin pumpers report greater ease in
diabetes self-management, less anxiety and depression, and
significantly fewer problems with hypoglycemic events,
compared with those on multiple insulin injection therapy.
One place where the pump offers marked improvement is
in meal planning. The diabetic who injects insulin several
times a day must schedule meals to match his or her
insulin's response curve. You thus must eat when the
medication you injected says so. With the pump, that
constraint is minimized. The pumper merely adjusts the
dosage for the desired amount of food, and goes about it.
Remembering that exercise burns blood glucose, a
diabetic using multiple injection therapy cannot engage in
nonscheduled exercise (or miss scheduled exercise), without
diet adjustment. Everything must be scheduled around those
injections. With the pump, however, you can immediately
take action to adjust the dose, and go have that off-
schedule meal or exercise. The pump user has far more
freedom to vary his or her activities than does the syringe
user.
Today's pumps are not perfect robots, however. They do
not autodetect your blood level and respond--so you still
have to test regularly, four to six times a day. You have
to take an active interest in intensive therapy and
controlling your diabetes, and, as the doctors say, be
"self-motivated and willing to learn and accept the
responsibility for insulin pump therapy as well as the
troubleshooting and self-care..."
Although the pump user has to take an active hand, that
hand does not have to be sighted! Just as there are
adaptive blood glucose monitors and insulin-drawing tools,
modern pumps contain audio cues that enable many blind
individuals to use them successfully.
If you are diabetic, interested in pursuing insulin-
pump therapy, meet with a diabetes educator who is
knowledgeable with the pump, and with a physician who is
enthusiastic and knowledgeable with this form of treatment.
These health professionals will discuss with you the
advantages, disadvantages, realistic goals, and expectations
regarding insulin pump therapy.
Talk to your health care team--and happy pumping!
subcutaneous infusion, offers a number of advantages over
traditional (hypodermic injection) insulin therapy.
Although the insulin pump is complex and expensive, it does
a better job than the needle, and if you use insulin, it may
do a better job for you.
Where needle-injecting insulin users generally mix
different insulin types to achieve optimal "coverage," pump
users use only short-acting insulin, adjusting the machine
rather than their insulin mix. This produces results more
resembling those of a healthy (non-diabetic) pancreas.
Once the new steps necessary to using the pump have
been mastered, insulin pumpers report greater ease in
diabetes self-management, less anxiety and depression, and
significantly fewer problems with hypoglycemic events,
compared with those on multiple insulin injection therapy.
One place where the pump offers marked improvement is
in meal planning. The diabetic who injects insulin several
times a day must schedule meals to match his or her
insulin's response curve. You thus must eat when the
medication you injected says so. With the pump, that
constraint is minimized. The pumper merely adjusts the
dosage for the desired amount of food, and goes about it.
Remembering that exercise burns blood glucose, a
diabetic using multiple injection therapy cannot engage in
nonscheduled exercise (or miss scheduled exercise), without
diet adjustment. Everything must be scheduled around those
injections. With the pump, however, you can immediately
take action to adjust the dose, and go have that off-
schedule meal or exercise. The pump user has far more
freedom to vary his or her activities than does the syringe
user.
Today's pumps are not perfect robots, however. They do
not autodetect your blood level and respond--so you still
have to test regularly, four to six times a day. You have
to take an active interest in intensive therapy and
controlling your diabetes, and, as the doctors say, be
"self-motivated and willing to learn and accept the
responsibility for insulin pump therapy as well as the
troubleshooting and self-care..."
Although the pump user has to take an active hand, that
hand does not have to be sighted! Just as there are
adaptive blood glucose monitors and insulin-drawing tools,
modern pumps contain audio cues that enable many blind
individuals to use them successfully.
If you are diabetic, interested in pursuing insulin-
pump therapy, meet with a diabetes educator who is
knowledgeable with the pump, and with a physician who is
enthusiastic and knowledgeable with this form of treatment.
These health professionals will discuss with you the
advantages, disadvantages, realistic goals, and expectations
regarding insulin pump therapy.
Talk to your health care team--and happy pumping!