Transcript:
"It was like being tied down by
injections. I felt like an outcast because no one else walks around
with syringes," says Tilly Philbrick.
When she was only 11 years old, Tilly Philbrick was diagnosed
with diabetes. At the time, her only treatment option was
insulin shots. “I was kind of afraid to do it myself,
so my parents did it for the first two or three months and
then after a while, I started to give my own shots.”
But, the painstaking process of self-injecting was made
worse by the fact that Tilly was never confident that she
was getting her exact insulin dosage, so she eventually switched
to the diabetes insulin pump. Tilly participated in a recent
study conducted by Yale School of Medicine which compared
insulin shots with the diabetes insulin pump in children
with type 1 diabetes.
“We’re finding that for many of our children,
insulin pump therapy is superior to multiple daily injection
therapy for a number of reasons. You can fit it to the lifestyle
better and the diabetes insulin pump is safer,” reports
Dr. Stewart Weinzimer of the Yale School of Medicine.
A diabetes insulin pump holds a reservoir with a two-to-three
day supply of insulin, which is delivered through an infusion
set, a tiny disposable tube and a soft cannula that’s
typically inserted under the skin in the abdominal area.
The set is usually changed by the patient every 2-3 days.
According to Dr. Weinzimer, the diabetes insulin pump allowed
patients to have tighter glucose control.
“People using the diabetes insulin pump were able to dramatically reduce
their average blood sugars.”
Diabetes is caused by the inability of the pancreas to produce
insulin, a hormone that’s needed to convert glucose
and other food into energy. Type 1 diabetes is classified
as an autoimmune disease, a condition in which the body’s
immune system attacks one of the body’s own tissues
or organs. In type 1 diabetes, it’s the insulin-producing
cells in the pancreas that are destroyed, making it difficult
to control the body’s sugar levels.
The diabetes insulin pumps have built-in dosage calculators
that manage the complex diabetes math for patients. The diabetes
insulin pump considers the amount of insulin still active
in a patient’s body prior to recommending an insulin
dosage. This helps patients avoid dangerous hypoglycemic
episodes when too much insulin is delivered.
“Because the risks are so much lower on insulin pump
therapies, people are able to relax and really feel more
in control of the diabetes and not be a slave to them,” said
Dr. Weinzimer.
Tilly is thrilled that she’s not only able to fine
tune her insulin dosages, but, she says, the insulin pump
has allowed her to enjoy life as a teenager. She’s
back playing competitive soccer and doing Irish dance.
“Now, that I’m on the insulin pump, I feel free.
I can eat whenever I want, I can skip meals and when I’m
sick I feel more comfortable going to bed at night knowing
that if I do wake up low, I’m not going to be in a
seizure.”
Children with type 1 diabetes will often share the same
symptoms that adults have- thirst, weight loss, tiredness
and frequent urination. And symptoms that are more typical
for children include stomach pains and headaches.
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