Sharon Hanks
Diabetes research conducted at the
Helen DeVos Children's Hospital in Grand Rapids and 29 other trial sites shows that Type 1 diabetics achieved better glucose control using a sensor-augmented insulin pump, hospital officials say. The more common approach for care today is multiple daily insulin injections.
The results of the study were recently published online in
The New England Journal of Medicine and presented at the American Diabetes Association Scientific Sessions.
Dr. Mike Wood, division chief of pediatric endocrinology at DeVos Children's Hospital, says an insulin pump is a plastic box containing a cartridge of insulin (syringe) that slowly pushes into the wearer's skin the needed insulin. This occurs over two or three days with help from a battery-powered motor and then is changed.
The pumps are more expensive than injections, Wood says, but the long-term costs are likely to be lower due to better glucose control and reduced complications. Uncontrolled glucose levels in patients with diabetes can lead to short and long-term complications, including shakiness, confusion, fainting, blindness, kidney failure and limb amputation.
The research showed that 44 percent of pediatric patients using sensor-augmented insulin pump therapy achieved the glucose control target recommended by the American Diabetes Association compared to only 20 percent of the patients in the multiple daily injection group, he says.
Sponsored by Medtronic, Inc., the study involved 485 patients ranging in age from 7 to 70.
"This is an important study to show that technology is helping patients achieve better control of their diabetes," Wood says. "This technology continues to improve every day. Recent trials of a closed-loop pump sensor combination have been encouraging. The day is coming where a person with diabetes will likely be able to wear a device that manages the diabetes effectively with little effort from the wearer.
"When will that day come?" he asks. "Nobody knows for sure, but continued support for research is critical to get there."
Source: Dr. Mike Wood, division chief of pediatric endocrinology at Helen DeVos Children's Hospital in Grand Rapids
Sharon Hanks is innovations and jobs news editor at Rapid Growth Media. Please send story ideas and comments for the column to Sharon at [email protected]. She also is owner of The Write Words in Grand Rapids.
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