8 novembre, 2006 19:28

Insulin pump a viable option for young diabetics

Last Updated: 2006-11-08 13:40:56 -0400 (Reuters Health)

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - With proper training and follow-up, continuous insulin infusion delivered via a portable pump provides a "durable" mode of treatment for children and adolescents with type 1, or insulin-dependent, diabetes, according to a long-term study of 161 children who initiated insulin pump therapy between 1998 and 2001.

Over 80 percent of the children stayed on pump therapy for up to 8.8 years, Dr. Lori M. B. Laffel and colleagues from Joslin Diabetes Center found. Study subjects had an average age of 14.1 years when they started on the insulin pump and 71 percent were girls.

One year after starting insulin pump therapy, the sample as a whole was monitoring blood sugar levels more frequently, required less insulin daily, and had improved control of their blood sugar, the Boston-based clinicians report in Diabetes Care this month.

They also observed that subjects who discontinued pump therapy experienced worsening blood sugar control during follow-up, whereas persistent pump users improved their blood sugar control and had fewer episodes of severe hypoglycemia (low blood sugar).

On average, less than 5 percent of subjects discontinued insulin pump therapy each year.

"Importantly," Laffel said, "subjects who discontinued pump therapy monitored their blood glucose levels significantly less often at baseline and during follow up than those who remained on pump therapy."

These individuals are good candidates for "targeted interventions" designed to "get them re-engaged in the rigors of diabetes management," Laffel said.

SOURCE: Diabetes Care, November 2006.