OMNIPOD ( insulin pump) - how to use, advantages, disadvantages, chance of infection in type 1 diabetic child?

QUESTION: Could you please advice me about the use of insulin pump - Omnipod in India, because as per my knowledge it is not an Indian product and it is costly also.

Could you please explain the advantages and disadvantages of insulin pump. Is there any chance of infection if we use insulin pump. Some people are saying if we use insulin pump we can forget about the diabetic, is that true?

My daughter is type 1 diabetic and using huminsulin (30/70) 8 units in the morning and 10 units in the evening, her fasting blood sugar level is less than 100 but two hours after meal sugar level goes upto 220, that is why we are thinking about the insulin pump.

Could you please advice me as early as possible?

I am looking forward to hear from you.

Thank you very much.

ANSWER: Hi there,

Omnipod is a real innovation in the medicine, which is helping a lot of people to beat their diabetes. You are absolutely right when saying that this little device costs a lot, but you have to know that insulin reservoirs are expensive too, which may result as the biggest disadvantage of this machine.

However, the good news is that the advantages are more than the shortcomings:

First of all, this device measures you blood glucose every 2 hours and when your blood glucose is high, it injects insulin. This provides proper control of diabetes, for which, your daughter needs a lot.

Besides this, Omnipod can give

injections on request, at the time when your doctor told her. This is very comfortable, because she avoids the usage of needles, which causes problems.

Other advantages are that she can swim or bath with this device, because it is water-resistant.

As I mentioned, the biggest shortcoming is the price of the device and the price of the consumables. However, I’m not able to tell you how much it will cost in India, because I’m not aware of the company, which is offering it in India.

With regards to risk of infections, it is assumed to be as equal as the risk when she is using needles. Although they might have no difference in infection risk, this device takes the advantage of making the life of your daughter much more easier.

In addition, if you strictly follow the instructions for cleaning, the risk will be minimal.

Therefore, taking all the above into consideration, I would suggest to to buy it, if you have the money of course. Such device will make her live like other normal children, because it is hard for a kid to follow all the steps needed for good blood glucose control.

However, if you are not able to buy it, your daughter has to visit her doctor, because a post prandial blood glucose level of 220mg/dl is very high.

The doctor will be able to adjust her therapy in a way, which will keep her blood glucose level within normal ranges.

Hope it helped and I’m sure that everything will be ok soon!

Dr.Alba