Self-monitoring of your diabetes
Diabetes is part of your everyday life. Appropriate self-monitoring can help you manage your daily blood glucose, and better adapt your lifestyle and treatment to suit your needs.1 The more often you check your blood glucose, the better you will understand it and the easier it will be for you to manage your diabetes. It doesn’t matter if you have type 1 or type 2 diabetes, or if you are taking insulin or not, self-monitoring can help you and your doctor manage your therapy.2 By managing your diabetes, you reduce the risk of developing complications. That means less eye, kidney and nerve...
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Fine-tuning insulin pump therapy to match your lifestyle
Today’s insulin pumps have made considerable progress from when they were first made available. With settings for long, leisurely meals and bursts of physical activity, you can give your body the insulin you need when you need it. Think you're ready? Talk to your healthcare professional or diabetes specialist about putting these advanced features to work for you. Precise hourly basal rates. We talk about a continuous dose of insulin, but really, you can work with your healthcare professional and set your background dose to change throughout the day and night. For example, you can increase your early morning basal rate to counteract a pre-dawn hormone surge or reduce the rate in the afternoon when you may need less insulin. You can also set up different profiles for work days and days off, when your level of activity is likely to shift.1 Temporary basal rates. When you're especially active, you may need less insulin. Feeling ill? You may need more. Setting temporary basal rates allow you to raise or lower your insulin for a set period of time to match exactly what you have planned—or what you haven't. For example, during a long walk, you could drop your insulin to just 20% or 50% of your normal rate for a few hours so your blood glucose doesn't drop too low. Extended or square-wave bolus. Rather than a standard bolus dose of insulin that's delivered all at once based on the food you're about to eat, an extended bolus spreads the extra mealtime insulin over a longer period of time. Celebrating a family wedding? Planning a city food tour with friends? A 4- or 5-hour extended bolus may be a better choice for a lengthy meal. Combining a standard and extended bolus: the multiwave or dual-wave bolus. This option delivers a rapid bolus followed by a slower, steady release of insulin. This can be the perfect match for a high-fat, high-protein meal, when carbs may take longer to work their way through your body.1 Knowing how to tailor various basal and bolus options to your personal needs is one of the great advantages of using an insulin pump—and a great way to maintain optimum control of your blood glucose while giving you the freedom to enjoy whatever life sends your way. Basal rates can change throughout the day Set to mirror your body's natural insulin needs, the basal rate is likely to rise and fall throughout a 24-hour period. Bolus options Standard, extended and multiwave bolus dosing allows you to more precisely match insulin delivery to your body's needs.
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4 good reasons to consider an insulin pump
Like many questions, to “pump or not to pump” has multiple correct answers. It’s an important tool in diabetes management and if you're thinking about making a switch to an insulin pump, we recommend discussing these points with your diabetes healthcare team. Blood glucose control. Because an insulin pump can more closely mimic the way a healthy pancreas delivers insulin, using an insulin pump can help to improve blood glucose control and reduce episodes of low blood glucose.1 With an insulin pump, insulin dosing can be more closely matched to activity and lifestyle needs throughout the day, and can be especially helpful if you're ill. However, if you want to get them most out of using an insulin pump, it will take dedication — monitoring blood glucose, counting carbohydrates and calculating mealtime insulin doses are essential for effective diabetes management. Precise mealtime insulin. Many insulin pumps now feature on-board insulin advisors that calculate insulin doses based on current blood glucose, carbs to be eaten and insulin already delivered to your body. This more accurate dosing can also lead to improved blood glucose control.2 To make things easy, the Accu-Chek Combo insulin pump system allows you to calculate a bolus dose on the meter and then deliver the bolus dose remotely, without even touching the pump. (Insert page link to Accu-Chek combo insulin pump system) Fewer jabs than needles. This is an important consideration. Some people find that they prefer to insert an infusion set every 2 or 3 days instead of injecting multiple times each day. Today's infusion sets use ultra-fine needles and offer a range of designs to fit virtually anyone, including young children and those with slender, athletic builds. Freedom. Some may wonder if having a medical device physically connected to their body might seem restrictive. In reality, some people are surprised to find out that the insulin pump gives them a greater sense of freedom and flexibility, as they can eat when they like and slow down insulin delivery when they're more active. So what's best for you? Ultimately, that's up to you and your diabetes healthcare team. If you think that pumping sounds appealing, talk to your healthcare professional to determine whether you're a good candidate for insulin pump therapy. How an insulin pump mimics a healthy pancreas Pump therapy closely imitates a healthy pancreas by delivering a flexible "basal" dose of insulin throughout the day, plus an additional "bolus" of insulin at mealtimes, based on carbohydrates eaten. More discretion. Greater control. At about the size of a mobile phone, an insulin pump may give you greater control over meals, activity and sleeping late.
Read More Fine-tuning insulin pump therapy to match your lifestyle
Today’s insulin pumps have made considerable progress from when they were first made available. With settings for long, leisurely meals and bursts of physical activity, you can give your body the insulin you need when you need it. Think you're ready? Talk to your healthcare professional or diabetes specialist about putting these advanced features to work for you. Precise hourly basal rates. We talk about a continuous dose of insulin, but really, you can work with your healthcare professional and set your background dose to change throughout the day and night. For example, you can increase your early morning basal rate to counteract a pre-dawn hormone surge or reduce the rate in the afternoon when you may need less insulin. You can also set up different profiles for work days and days off, when your level of activity is likely to shift.1 Temporary basal rates. When you're especially active, you may need less insulin. Feeling ill? You may need more. Setting temporary basal rates allow you to raise or lower your insulin for a set period of time to match exactly what you have planned—or what you haven't. For example, during a long walk, you could drop your insulin to just 20% or 50% of your normal rate for a few hours so your blood glucose doesn't drop too low. Extended or square-wave bolus. Rather than a standard bolus dose of insulin that's delivered all at once based on the food you're about to eat, an extended bolus spreads the extra mealtime insulin over a longer period of time. Celebrating a family wedding? Planning a city food tour with friends? A 4- or 5-hour extended bolus may be a better choice for a lengthy meal. Combining a standard and extended bolus: the multiwave or dual-wave bolus. This option delivers a rapid bolus followed by a slower, steady release of insulin. This can be the perfect match for a high-fat, high-protein meal, when carbs may take longer to work their way through your body.1 Knowing how to tailor various basal and bolus options to your personal needs is one of the great advantages of using an insulin pump—and a great way to maintain optimum control of your blood glucose while giving you the freedom to enjoy whatever life sends your way. Basal rates can change throughout the day Set to mirror your body's natural insulin needs, the basal rate is likely to rise and fall throughout a 24-hour period. Bolus options Standard, extended and multiwave bolus dosing allows you to more precisely match insulin delivery to your body's needs.
Read More 4 good reasons to consider an insulin pump
Like many questions, to “pump or not to pump” has multiple correct answers. It’s an important tool in diabetes management and if you're thinking about making a switch to an insulin pump, we recommend discussing these points with your diabetes healthcare team. Blood glucose control. Because an insulin pump can more closely mimic the way a healthy pancreas delivers insulin, using an insulin pump can help to improve blood glucose control and reduce episodes of low blood glucose.1 With an insulin pump, insulin dosing can be more closely matched to activity and lifestyle needs throughout the day, and can be especially helpful if you're ill. However, if you want to get them most out of using an insulin pump, it will take dedication — monitoring blood glucose, counting carbohydrates and calculating mealtime insulin doses are essential for effective diabetes management. Precise mealtime insulin. Many insulin pumps now feature on-board insulin advisors that calculate insulin doses based on current blood glucose, carbs to be eaten and insulin already delivered to your body. This more accurate dosing can also lead to improved blood glucose control.2 To make things easy, the Accu-Chek Combo insulin pump system allows you to calculate a bolus dose on the meter and then deliver the bolus dose remotely, without even touching the pump. (Insert page link to Accu-Chek combo insulin pump system) Fewer jabs than needles. This is an important consideration. Some people find that they prefer to insert an infusion set every 2 or 3 days instead of injecting multiple times each day. Today's infusion sets use ultra-fine needles and offer a range of designs to fit virtually anyone, including young children and those with slender, athletic builds. Freedom. Some may wonder if having a medical device physically connected to their body might seem restrictive. In reality, some people are surprised to find out that the insulin pump gives them a greater sense of freedom and flexibility, as they can eat when they like and slow down insulin delivery when they're more active. So what's best for you? Ultimately, that's up to you and your diabetes healthcare team. If you think that pumping sounds appealing, talk to your healthcare professional to determine whether you're a good candidate for insulin pump therapy. How an insulin pump mimics a healthy pancreas Pump therapy closely imitates a healthy pancreas by delivering a flexible "basal" dose of insulin throughout the day, plus an additional "bolus" of insulin at mealtimes, based on carbohydrates eaten. More discretion. Greater control. At about the size of a mobile phone, an insulin pump may give you greater control over meals, activity and sleeping late.
Read More