About 95 percent of them have type 2 diabetes, in which the body fails to produce enough insulin to control blood-glucose levels or fails to efficiently use the insulin that is produced. While diet control, calorie restriction, weight loss and exercise factor into managing this disease, effectively controlling blood glucose levels can play a major role in preventing serious complications such as blindness, renal failure, neuropathy and amputation that are so common in diabetes. Given the many questions that I field from patients with diabetes, it's also a good idea to be aware of the basics of how an insulin pump works. An insulin pump is a small mechanical device that patients can use to deliver insulin into their body via a thin plastic tube called an infusion set. This is a long, thin plastic tube that connects the insulin pump to a small, flexible plastic needle or cannula that is inserted beneath the skin at the infusion site, typically in the abdomen.
Patients use the pump continuously according to a programmed plan that is unique to each patient.
However, the pump is not automatic as the patient still has to decide how much insulin is given. Also keep in mind that the pump delivers insulin in two different ways, the basal rate and pre-meal bolus. The basal rate is a small amount of insulin delivered continuously throughout the day. This insulin keeps blood glucose in the desired range between meals and overnight. In order to do a thorough and complete medical history, we must be knowledgeable of the aforementioned medications, especially if we are going to prescribe additional medications for these patients.