Diabetes is a disease in which the body either does not produce insulin (Type 1) or cannot properly use it (Type 2). As of June 2008, there were over 24 million people in the U.S. with diabetes, and 1.6 million new cases are diagnosed each year. About 6 million people use insulin to treat their diabetes, including about 2 million who use multiple daily insulin injections.

Insulin is the treatment of choice for Type 1 and late stage Type 2 diabetes. Optimizing tight blood glucose control while minimizing high and low blood sugars is the goal to prevent long term complications such as heart attacks, stroke, nerve damage, amputations, blindness and kidney failure.

Glucose levels can be normalized by using multiple daily insulin injections (MDI), or by continuous subcutaneous insulin infusion (CSII) through the use of an insulin pump.

Advantages of Insulin Pumps over Multiple Daily Injections

User Advantages

• Improved quality of life
• Fewer painful injections (once every 3 days vs. up to 6-8 times each day for MDI)
• A more flexible lifestyle - less rigid diets and sleep schedules
• Simple insulin delivery in a discreet manner

Medical Advantages

• More closely mimics insulin delivery of the healthy pancreas
• Allows different baseline rates to be programmed for different times of day
• Ability to exercise with less risk of hypoglycemia
• Flexible boluses with a mixture of short and long bolus delivery to better take care of meals that are a mixture of carbohydrates, fat and protein
• Reduced glucose excursions
• Better glucose control (HbA1c values) with fewer severe hypoglycemic events
• Enables better insulin absorption and availability
• Reduces insulin resistance – and the amount of insulin you need for good control
• Insulin pumps use only fast-acting insulin delivery, allowing insulin to be more quickly absorbed into the blood with less pooling at the injection site.

Insulin pumps use only fast-acting insulin delivery, allowing insulin to be more quickly absorbed into the blood with less pooling at the injection site.