Insulin Therapies
As we discussed in yesterday’s article, Everything You Need to Know About Insulin Pump Therapy, pumps are a great devise for many people with diabetes. They don’t make your disease go away but they do help many manage their diabetes - especially people with type 1.
It’s safe to say that experienced pump users swear by and love this innovation. Jason Rubin who has been using an insulin pump for 11 years says, “Switching to a pump was the best thing I ever did, I wish I would have done it sooner. It provides better control, more flexibility and an overall healthier lifestyle.”
Improvements Keep Coming
When insulin pumps first became available to the public, they were not the easiest, most convenient machines to use, but today, drastic improvements have been made to insulin pump therapy.
In 1983, Medtronic Diabetes introduced their first pump, the MiniMed model 502. A few years later menu-driven programming, bolus memory and daily insulin totals were added. The MiniMed Paradigm kept improving with every model, to the point that the newest model, the MiniMed Paradigm REAL-Time System, uses a Bolus Wizard for real-time continuous glucose monitoring (CGM). Amanda McNulty Sheldon, Director of Public Relations for Medtronic Diabetes says, “CGM reveals fluctuations in glucose levels that can go unnoticed with standard finger stick measurements. Viewing this data in real-time enables patients to react to high or low glucose levels before they become dangerous.”
And they haven’t stopped there. In markets outside the United States, the MiniMed Paradigm Veo insulin pump has been introduced. According to Sheldon, “This is another cutting-edge innovation for diabetes patients (outside of the U.S.) – it includes a low glucose suspend feature that automatically suspends insulin delivery when glucose becomes too low. This helps patients avoid and/or manage episodes of hypoglycemia.” This model is something Medtronic Diabetes is working hard on bringing to the United States soon.
Rubin is quite happy with the advancements in insulin pump therapy. When asked what the best features were he said, “ Constant basal rate, there’s nothing on the market that can give you the tight control which that feature provides and if you’re diligent with your blood sugar testing, you can really get the numbers you desire to have.”
Other Benefits
Along with helping manage your diabetes, insulin pump therapy can help improve your A1C which will decrease your risk for many complications such as eye, kidney and nerve disease. And as the American Diabetes Association points out, the flexibility that insulin pump therapy provides will give you the ability to match your diabetes to your lifestyle, instead of having to live your life around your diabetes. Just ask Katie Risch a pump user for eight years who leads a very active lifestyle. “Wearing an insulin pump has helped me a lot with my diabetes management. It has been a huge blessing,” she says, “I recently returned from a month in Costa Rica where I was deep in the rain forest and several hours from civilization. Due to the small changes you can make with an insulin pump, the trip was a success.” Rubin agrees, saying that the ease of use, the easy bolus option for quick doses and the ability to hook up a CGM system for constant blood sugar monitoring makes his life so much easier!
By: Raechel Conover
