Dealing With Diabetes? Introducing the Insulin Pump
Like many Americans, perhaps you or someone you care for has been diagnosed with diabetes.
That's serious news considering the condition will affect and alter your life.
The good news is, technology has advanced significantly and has improved the approach to this way of life while maintaining quality of life.
The most common type of diabetes in adults is Type 2 diabetes.
Diabetes is a condition where the body doesn't produce the right amount of insulin.
Insulin is a hormone that helps in the processing of glucose into energy.
Diabetes can also be caused if the cells in the body don't process the insulin properly.
In the earlier days of the treatment of diabetes, your doctor would recommend the amount of insulin and how often to inject insulin into your system.
It was more of a guessing game based on how you felt before and after eating.
Then you would monitor the blood sugar remaining by testing your urine with test strips.
Then enter the age of glucometers.
Throughout the day one could prick their finger and do a quick and easy check of their blood to see the level of the blood sugar.
Once this was determined then an adjustment of their insulin injection could be altered accordingly.
Glucometers have advanced as well, requiring fewer steps in acquiring and testing the blood as well as decreasing the discomfort of having to prick one's fingers.
The development of the insulin pump brings diabetics the most current treatment to date.
An insulin pump is a device similar in size to a deck of cards that delivers insulin without the patient having to inject themselves with insulin.
The pump can be attached to a belt or carried in a pocket.
Attached to the pump is a plastic tube that has a needle or catheter that is placed just under the skin.
The insulin is then released into the body in two different ways.
First there is the basal rate which means there is a steady trickle of insulin into the user throughout the day and night.
Larger amounts of insulin called bolus doses are released to treat an expected rise in the blood sugar resulting from a meal or snack.
As for the logistics of using an insulin pump, the reservoir in the pump that holds the insulin is called the insulin pump cartridge.
The size of the cartridge and the amount of units it holds can vary from 170 units up to 300 units of insulin.
In determining the best size of cartridge you need is to consider how many units of insulin you require for three days.
There are definitely pros and cons of using an insulin pump.
Fortunately the pros outweigh the cons when you consider it reduces the likelihood of individual injections throughout the day.
Even more, a pump increases the ease of controlling diabetes which in return improves one's quality of life.
On the other side, they can be expensive to purchase and operate.
You have to adjust to being attached to the pump at all times, and there may be the possibility of gaining weight.
That's serious news considering the condition will affect and alter your life.
The good news is, technology has advanced significantly and has improved the approach to this way of life while maintaining quality of life.
The most common type of diabetes in adults is Type 2 diabetes.
Diabetes is a condition where the body doesn't produce the right amount of insulin.
Insulin is a hormone that helps in the processing of glucose into energy.
Diabetes can also be caused if the cells in the body don't process the insulin properly.
In the earlier days of the treatment of diabetes, your doctor would recommend the amount of insulin and how often to inject insulin into your system.
It was more of a guessing game based on how you felt before and after eating.
Then you would monitor the blood sugar remaining by testing your urine with test strips.
Then enter the age of glucometers.
Throughout the day one could prick their finger and do a quick and easy check of their blood to see the level of the blood sugar.
Once this was determined then an adjustment of their insulin injection could be altered accordingly.
Glucometers have advanced as well, requiring fewer steps in acquiring and testing the blood as well as decreasing the discomfort of having to prick one's fingers.
The development of the insulin pump brings diabetics the most current treatment to date.
An insulin pump is a device similar in size to a deck of cards that delivers insulin without the patient having to inject themselves with insulin.
The pump can be attached to a belt or carried in a pocket.
Attached to the pump is a plastic tube that has a needle or catheter that is placed just under the skin.
The insulin is then released into the body in two different ways.
First there is the basal rate which means there is a steady trickle of insulin into the user throughout the day and night.
Larger amounts of insulin called bolus doses are released to treat an expected rise in the blood sugar resulting from a meal or snack.
As for the logistics of using an insulin pump, the reservoir in the pump that holds the insulin is called the insulin pump cartridge.
The size of the cartridge and the amount of units it holds can vary from 170 units up to 300 units of insulin.
In determining the best size of cartridge you need is to consider how many units of insulin you require for three days.
There are definitely pros and cons of using an insulin pump.
Fortunately the pros outweigh the cons when you consider it reduces the likelihood of individual injections throughout the day.
Even more, a pump increases the ease of controlling diabetes which in return improves one's quality of life.
On the other side, they can be expensive to purchase and operate.
You have to adjust to being attached to the pump at all times, and there may be the possibility of gaining weight.
Source...