Insulin pumps better than injections

Thursday July 3rd, 2014

People with type 2 diabetes who need insulin fare better with pumps than regular injections, according to the findings of a study reported today.

The pumps give continuous doses of insulin but until now their benefits have not been proven.

The French researchers say their study shows pumps outperforming daily injections.

The research, reported in The Lancet, involved some 495 adults with type 2 diabetes.

Patients given pumps achieved greater reductions in average blood sugar levels than those having injections, the researchers found.

They also spent, on average, three hours less every day with levels of blood sugar that were too high.

Researcher Professor Yves Reznik, from the University of Caen Côte de Nacre Regional Hospital Centre, Caen, France, said today: "Pumps enhance effective insulin absorption and increase insulin sensitivity thanks to the continuous daily subcutaneous insulin delivery.

"Our findings open up a valuable new treatment option for those individuals failing on current injection regimens and may also provide improved convenience, reducing the burden of dose tracking and scheduling, and decreasing insulin injection omissions."

Insulin pump treatment compared with multiple daily injections for treatment of type 2 diabetes (OpT2mise): a randomised open-label controlled trial. Lancet 3 July 2014 [abstract]

Tags: Diabetes | Europe | Pharmaceuticals

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