What Is an Insulin Pump?
An insulin pump is a pager-like device that delivers fast-acting insulin to the body through a cannula and tubing in two ways; a preprogrammed basal rate that delivers small amounts continuously over a twenty-four-hour period, and a bolus that the wearer or the parent or caregiver of the wearer pushes buttons to deliver at needed times such as meals and when high blood sugar levels occur.
The site or infusion area, which includes the cannula and tubing is inserted either by hand or with an insertion tool and is changed about every three days. Most children say the insertion hurts no more than an insulin shot. The pump can be disconnected from the site at any time and reconnected with an easy click. Insulin travels from the pump through the tubing and into the body.
A pump is not a cure for diabetes, and while it does replace shots, it does not replace finger pricks for blood glucose readings. In other words, while pumps are a great delivery system for insulin, they do not regulate blood sugars on their own, a common misconception by the general public.
Pump Freedom
A pump does, however, allow the user to have a freer schedule. Since there is fast-acting insulin in the pump, there are no peak times; in other words, there are no times when eating or snacking is a must. Since a person with a pump only needs to do a math equation and push some buttons when he wants to eat, a pump means you can eat or—to the surprise of people with diabetes who have been living on shots for years—you can
How Pumps Came to Market
Pumps were first made available to the public around 1980, but only adults could wear them and users of the large, bulky pumps were few and far between. In 1985, MiniMed introduced the 507, the first sleeker, more modern pump that would be the catalyst for many people with diabetes to turn to pumps instead of shots. Still, parents who wanted pumps on their children were few and far between, and they had to either work hard to find an endocrine team willing to help them out or pretty much do it on their own.
Even once the child barrier was broken, most pediatric endocrinology teams held to a belief that “when you can drive a car, you can drive a pump.” It wasn't until parents began truly pushing in the late 1990s that more and more kids started pumping. Even then, many parents had to work hard to convince their medical teams to let them give it a try.
Pump companies helped families out, too, for obvious reasons. The pediatric market would be a boon for them. This push actually, for a short time, caused medical teams to hold back, not trusting the motives of the companies. In addition, until recently, there was no data that pumps were safe and effective in young children. This lack of efficacy data slowed adoption of pumps in children. Eventually, large studies were published that showed how pumps could be effectively used in children. As a result, pediatric endocrinology teams began to put more patients on pumps.
Fact
One of the first known young children on a pump was a three-year-old girl in upstate New York in 1985. It would be decades before having children on pumps became the norm in diabetes care.
Still, parents kept pushing until they made it happen for their children. Naturally, the more successes medical teams saw, the more willing they were to come on board. Today, pumps are available to kids of all ages.
