Breakthrough Diabetes Devices
Reported April 14, 2009
CHAPEL HILL, N.C. (Ivanhoe Newswire) — Over the past few decades, technology has been striving to keep up with a growing number of diabetic patients. Some new advances are taking the time and hassle out of managing diabetes.
For Kristin Duquaine, managing her type 1 diabetes is full-time job. She wears an insulin pump and has to check her blood sugar six to 10 times a day.
“Your day starts, and the first thing you really think of is what is the blood sugar,” Duquaine told Ivanhoe.
New technology that allows meters and pumps to communicate wirelessly with each other may make the process easier. After patients prick their fingers and the glucose meter reads blood sugar levels, it sends that reading wirelessly to the pump. A calculator figures the correct dose, the patient OKs it, and the pump delivers the right amount of insulin.
“The number already gets sent to the pump, so you dont have to enter it in the pump,” Thomas O’Connell, M.D., an endocrinologist from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Medicine in Chapel Hill, N.C., told Ivanhoe.
Some diabetics are now using glucose sensors that constantly monitor blood sugar levels. Every few minutes, the sensor takes a blood sugar reading. If the patient’s sugars are too high or low, an alarm sounds.
Unfortunately, insulin pumps don’t work for everyone.
“The insulin pump wouldnt work for me,” Debra Lofton, a diabetes patient, told Ivanhoe.
What has worked for Lofton is an injection port which has taken away the need for so many daily sticks.
The port stays in place for three days before it must be changed out. Lofton takes all seven daily doses for those three days through her port — 21 in all.
“Whereas I would dread taking my insulin, I now take it willingly,” Lofton said.
Advances that are making life easier for people with diabetes
The wireless meter-pump system is now available for people with both type 1 and type 2 diabetes. The plastic injection port is available through prescription only.
Good candidates for insulin pumps are knowledgeable about their disease, are willing to monitor glucose levels regularly and be able to learn how the technology works.
FOR MORE INFORMATION, PLEASE VISIT:
American Diabetes Association
http://www.ada.org
(800) DIABETES (800-342-2383)