Insulin Pumps Capable of Saving Lives: Study

Vienna (PNA/Xinhua) — The use of insulin pumps to improve therapy for type 1 diabetes patients has provided very positive results including saving the lives of patients, it was revealed at the annual meeting for the European Association for the Study of Diabetes (EASD) in Vienna on Wednesday.

A team led by Soffia Gudbjoernsdottir from the University of Gothernburg in Sweden observed 18,000 sufferers of type 1 diabetes of whom 2441 had an insulin pump, over a period of almost seven years, Austria Press Agency reported.

It was found that the overall mortality rate (statistically from all causes of death) dropped by 29 percent when patients used the device. The incidences of fatal cardiovascular disease were also reduced by about 43 percent.

The pumps were originally designed for insulin-dependent diabetics whose blood glucose levels could not be adequately controlled with injections, and have in more recent years incorporated sensors to continually measure blood glucose levels and better adjust the insulin dose to the needs of the patient.

Also revealed at the conference was a study from a team from Malmoe University, who found that milk products are capable of protecting against type 2 diabetes.

In a study of 27,000 patients aged 45 to 74 years of age, it was observed that a diet of high-fat milk and dairy products reduced the risk of this form of diabetes. Observed over a period of 14 years, those eating eight or more daily servings had a 23 percent lower risk than those consuming little or no dairy products, though the authors of the study acknowledged the fat content itself is also not healthy.

High consumption of meat and sausage products however is definitely bad for those with the condition, the study claimed. (PNA/Xinhua) FPV/JSD