That had parents of younger kids clambering to get this state-of-the-art care as well, but there was limited information about whether the insulin pump was safe and effective in preschoolers.
Now, the results of a pilot study from the University of Michigan Health System suggest the pump is just as effective as insulin injections at controlling Type 1 diabetes in preschool-aged children and with less stress and worry for parents.
The study, which will be presented May 1 at the Pediatric Academic Societies' annual meeting in San Francisco, looked at 16 children ages 3-5 with diabetes. The children were randomly assigned to get either insulin pump therapy or insulin injection treatment.
The children's blood sugars were measured and each child was given a special sensor for 72 hours that continuously tracked blood sugars to show how stable they were over time. Parents were asked about quality of life issues related to their child's diabetes care. Families were seen in clinic once a month for medical care and diabetes education.
After six months, the researchers repeated the blood sugar testing and quality of life assessment.
Blood glucose levels remained stable for both groups and there were no differences between the groups in episodes of high or low blood sugars, suggesting effective diabetes management by both the pump and injections.
"Based on this data, the pump is an effective and safe method of managing diabetes in young kids," says Lisa Opipari-Arrigan, Ph.D., clinical assistant professor of Pediatrics at the U-M Medical School.
In addition, parents of children using the pump reported less worry and emotional stress at the end of the study, while parents whose children received insulin i
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1-May-2004