When you have diabetes, your body is either not producing enough insulin or the insulin so produced is not being utilized efficiently by your body. Hence, some external sources of insulin need to be administered in the body. There are different ways of doing the same, namely. Insulin injections, insulin pumps, etc. In this article, we shall learn about insulin pumps and the various advantages and disadvantages of doing the same.

What is an Insulin Pump?

An insulin pump is a device which is used by the diabetes patients to administer insulin into the body externally. It is a computerized device which is used for this purpose. There are two different ways in which the device can be used to administer insulin:

Basal rate: This refers to the continuous administration of the hormone into your body in trickles to help keep your blood glucose levels stable not only between the meals but also while you are asleep.

Bolus Rate: This refers to a higher dosage of insulin. It is usually taken just before the meals in order to ensure that the blood glucose is within the normal range when you eat food.

Effective Use of Insulin Pumps

The effective use of the insulin pumps involves the following:

• You should be willing to check your blood glucose at least four to eight times in a day
• You should be able to adjust the total dosage of the insulin you take according to the food you eat, the total carbohydrate intake, the amount of physical activity that you do, as well as the total level of blood glucose in your body
• You need to let other people know that you have diabetes
• You have to be motivated to be self-disciplined and at the same time should be aware of carbohydrate counting
• The understanding of the mechanism of these insulin pumps is quite sophisticated and can be really complicated

Advantages of Using Insulin Pump

The Insulin pump offers the following advantages to all the users:

• Insulin pump offers the advantage of flexibility in using insulin. The administration of insulin through the pump is quite simple and easy. You can just add a few buttons for the same and the entire process is painless too.
• When you use the pump for insulin administration, the pattern is almost like the one where insulin is produced in the body of a healthy So, this process leads to better insulin absorption
• The method also helps in stabilizing the A1c levels of the body
• If you are taking insulin through the pump, the body will benefit from the food you intake is absorbed only slowly, leading you to feel full for a longer period of time
• You do not experience very high or very low glucose levels in the blood
• Besides, this method of taking in insulin helps you with flexible timing when it comes to exercise or other physical activities. if you decide to do some form of physical exercise, you can always lower your dose so that you have little to no chances of experiencing hypoglycemia
• You can go for precise readings and that is why you know exactly how much insulin have you administered in your body.
• Also, you can enjoy food which you like on a few special occasions without feeling guilty as you can always adjust your insulin dosage
• Since there are timings recorded on the insulin pump too, you can travel without any hassle even when it concerns long distances, time on the pump can be adjusted to the various time zones
• One of the most important advantages of using insulin pumps is that the insulin pump can be adjusted in order to give you different types and rates of insulin during different times of the day. For example, if you feel that your blood glucose is going too low during the night, you can adjust the base of the insulin and administer the hormone accordingly. The same helps to fight the reasons for high blood glucose such as the dawn phenomenon, amongst others.
• The improved and extended flexibility goes a long way in helping you establish good control over your blood glucose levels.
• You feel all the more relaxed and energized when you use insulin pumps for dealing with diabetes and all the other related conditions.
• With all the above advantages, you certainly have a better control on your lifestyle and well-being while dealing with the chronic illness in a very effective manner.

However, you should be aware of the following disadvantages when you are using insulin pumps for administering insulin into your body:

Disadvantages of Using Insulin Pump

The Insulin pump offers the following disadvantages to all the users:

• The major disadvantage of using insulin pumps is that the malfunction of these pumps can lead to Diabetic Ketoacidosis.
• Besides, inefficient use of these pumps can also cause a lot of infections
• You have to check your glucose levels at least four times a day
• You need to inform others that you have diabetes when you are using diabetes pump.
• These insulin pumps are very expensive and may not be available at affordable rates
• You should not use this pump if you do not have the self-discipline to be consistent

We hope that the above article has been helpful in educating you about insulin pumps, their advantages as well as disadvantages. You should be aware of all the above when you take a decision of using these. Also, do make sure that the team of medical expert is aware of how to go about using the same and use the insulin pumps under an expert supervision.