BENEFITS OF THE INSULIN PUMP

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!