Source: New England Journal of Medicine, 7/22/2010, NEJM Pump AbstractA new sensor-augmented insulin-pump therapy in type 1 diabetes is much better than traditional injection therapy according to a study published in New England Journal of Medicine. Recently, there have been several new technologies for the treatment of type 1 diabetes mellitus including a variety of pumps and pumps with glucose sensors.
They study followed 485 patients (329 adults and 156 children) with inadequately controlled type 1 diabetes over a 1-year, multicenter, randomized, controlled trial. Researchers compared the efficacy of sensor-augmented pump therapy (pump therapy) with that of a regimen of multiple daily insulin injections (injection therapy). The primary goal was the change from the baseline glycated hemoglobin (HbA1c) level.
Study findings• At 1 year, the baseline average glycated hemoglobin (HbA1c) level (8.3% in the two study groups) had decreased too 7.5% in the pump-therapy group, as compared witho 8.1% in the injection-therapy group.• The proportion of patients who reached the glycated hemoglobin (HbA1c) target (<7%) was greater in the pump-therapy group than in the injection-therapy group.• The rate of severe hypoglycemia in the pump-therapy group (13.31 cases per 100 person-years) did not differ significantly from that in the injection-therapy group (13.48 per 100 person-years).• There was no significant weight gain in either group.
