Pros and Cons of Insulin Pumps

The insulin pump is a medical device that is used for managing insulin levels in the body to treat diabetes mellitus. With the help of this device, a patient can administer the right amount of insulin in his or her body, in order to maintain the right insulin level. Thus, this device helps to ease the process of maintaining insulin levels in the body.

The device includes:

• A pump, along with the controls, batteries, and processing module
• Inside the pump, there is a disposable reservoir for keeping insulin
• A disposable infusion set, along with the cannula is included for inserting in the skin
• A tubing system is included for interfacing the disposable insulin reservoir to the cannula

The insulin pump acts as an alternative to daily injections of insulin that are administered by an insulin pen or syringe. It helps a diabetic patient go through intensive insulin therapy, if the patient requires the insulin injection in tandem with lowering fat and blood glucose monitoring. Through the insulin pump therapy, a patient can replace slow acting insulin for insulin requirements, with the constant introduction of rapid acting insulin dosage. This device helps an individual administer single type of fast acting insulin injection in the following two ways:

• Bonus dosage of the drug to correct a high glucose blood sugar level.
• Basal dose to constantly pump a dosage of the drug to stem over the insulin need, during meals and during the night.

Advantage of administering insulin dosage with the help of the insulin pump:

• It is more convenient to use them than using syringes.
• With it, one can easily administer rapid acting insulin dosage.
• With the help of the insulin pump, a diabetic patient can deliver the right amount of insulin that is needed by the body.
• In the long term, this device helps an individual save more money than multiple daily injections.

Disadvantages of administering insulin dosage with the help of an insulin pump:

• The insulin pump is more expensive than the syringes used for injecting insulin.
• It needs to be worn most of the time, so the users do not have the freedom to participate in certain kinds of activities like water sports or other rough activities.
• Some patients feel that wearing it all the time is uneasy.
• As it treats with the help of rapid acting insulin dosage only, a patient has the chance of suffering from diabetic ketoacidosis if the pump does not contain enough fast acting insulin dosage.
• As it is battery operated, if the device remains discharged, a patient’s administration of insulin may be affected, which may lead to complications.
• Its users need to administer the effective delivery of insulin, as it is battery operated, else there can be some malfunctions to the device.