Endocrine Abstracts

Background: Long-term insulin therapy is associated with considerable side-effects. Tight control of blood glucose is vital to minimise risk of complications and to maintain quality of life. Insulin pump therapy (or continuous subcutaneous insulin infusion-CSII) can improve glycaemic control without consequent increased episodes of hypoglycaemia. It has been available for many years but it has only recently begun to be a treatment of choice for type 1 diabetes in the UK. CSII ...

Capillary blood glucose testing by patients with diabetes can be useful in the management of diabetes. Whilst the meters now available are small, fast and reliable finger-pricking remains painful and cumbersome. Most patients would prefer not to do this.There has thus been great interest in the development of alternative methods of measuring glucose employing invasive, minimally-invasive and non-invasive sensing technology. Currently three devices are av...

The need for insulin delivery not based on syringe and needle derives from problems associated with control of diabetes by this method. These include dislike of injections producing poor compliance; adverse insulin pharmacokinetics (basal insulin not constant, sc absorption of short-acting insulin too slow, highly variable absorption); hyperinsulinaemia due to peripheral rather than portal administration; and lack of feedback control due to absence of continuous glucose sensin...